COW PARSLEY SPROUTING

Distinctive bright green, ferny rosettes of cow parsley leaves, presaging the creamy Maytime flowers that give it its other name of Queen Anne's Lace.

 

TREE SHADOW

Winter sunshine

 

MUNDY ROOKERY UPDATE

The main poplar tree on the Mundy playing field now has 11 nests. 

and there are even 3 nests in the neighbouring poplar, although in my photo it only looks like one.  

But the three in the ash tree have all disappeared.

It could be windy weather or other rooks - they like to pinch each others sticks rather than hunting for their own

However there are 5 nests in the nearby oak tree.  

 

Interesting that four are together and the other one is out on its own.  

The social life of rooks is an intricate affair.

Green shoots on the woodland floor

These green shoots resembling chives are Crow Garlic (Allium vineale).  Rabbits or deer have been nibbling these.  

And the popular NATIVE bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scriptus) which are spreading through Filnore Woods where the conditions are right.

Note the narrow leaves which show they are native bluebells, 

whereas these rather broader, pointed leaves are of Ramsons or Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum)

Photo: Simon Dicker

Pick one and have a sniff if you're not sure.

 

CHIFFCHAFF

Saturday afternoon I heard and saw my first chiffchaff of 2023.  Probably a male, staking out a territory and advertising for a partner.

Such a cheery greeting for the spring.

Although some chiffchaffs stay in Britain for the winter, most of them migrate south even as far as Africa, to feed on the insects and spiders which they like.

Males like a tall tree to sing from but the female builds her nest low down in brambles and undergrowth.

Here is a video of a singing male.  It's lovely to hear at first, but the song does go on a bit.

 

SUN STARS AND BLUE EYES

There is a flower, the lesser celandine

That shrinks, like many more, from cold and rain

And, the first moment that the sun may shine

Bright as the sun himself, 'tis out again.

William Wordsworth            

A bit of sunshine opens up a few waiting Celandine flower buds.  They're a menace in the garden but a delight on early spring verges.

Further along the walk I see that it's not just a few but myriads of these shining sun stars.

And the Germander Speedwell, also know as Bird's Eye, provides a contrasting blue sparkle.

 

IVY BERRIES

Still some ivy berries for the birds,  to see them through the hungry gap at this time of year.

 

BLACK THORNS, WHITE FLOWERS, GREEN TWIGS

I always find it difficult to distinguish blackthorn flowers from cherry plum. 

Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera) blooms earlier (usually) and the flowers are a bit larger and brighter white.  So if you notice a bush covered in slightly off-white flowers it'll be blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)

I think these are cherry plum.

But cherry plum usually flowers at the same time as the leaves open, whereas blackthorn always flowers before bud-burst.

But only the cherry plum has green twigs, so as this photo of flower buds shows, it must be a cherry plum.

Maybe it doesn't matter but it's just a bit of a challenge.

 

Snow

It's hard being a primrose

 

STEPS

On-going maintenance of the steps up from the stream - or down to the stream if you are going the other way.  Anyway, Chris and Derek have fixed new poles across and we await the woodchip from South Glos to fill in behind each pole.

On the other side of the bridge Eric and Andy are fixing more steps and retaining edge strips.  This is the boggiest bit of path on site so maybe stone will be needed here, to fill in behind the treads.

 

WINTER TREES 8: ASPEN

What are these mature branchy trees 

at the back of the social services car park off Gloucester Road, Thornbury?

They have catkins but much furrier than the golden hazel or dangly alder catkins.

These are aspens, one with three main trunks and one on a single stem.

The fissured trunk takes some time to mature.  The younger trees shown below, in the hedge on Church Road, show the smooth, pale bark of younger trees, developing diamond shaped lenticels which will eventually coalesce into the fissured bark of mature trees

                  

In a sheltered spot you can also find the persistent dead leaves from last growing season - almost round with a scalloped edge.

   

or the furry catkins on the ground.

 

PICNIC BENCH

At the beginning of February we were bewildered and disappointed to discover that our picnic bench had been attacked . . .

     

. . . and an unsuccessful attempt had been made to set it on fire.

Richard Jessop who built it said it was uneconomic to try and repair it so here you see Peter and Jim, having salvaged what useable timber and screws they could find.

From the salvaged timber Peter constructed a replacement seat 

for the vandalised bench up by the pylon.

   

Let's see how long it lasts

BUT MEANWHILE . . . . .

Richard Jessop (pictured below) has set to and built us a replacement with thicker wood and at cost price as he considers we are a worthy cause.  

Richard said ,"I made it during the evenings, as I was a bit annoyed that someone had destroyed the other one, and wanted to replace for you ASAP."

Richard's excellent handiwork - benches, gates, sheds, garden furniture, etc -  is available to view on his website  https://www.richardjessopswoodworks.com/ which you can link to here

 

SPRING IS UPON US: HAZEL WAKES

Leaves beginning to open in a sheltered spot in the New Plantation at Filnore Woods.

Telltale golden catkin betrays the tree's identity - a hazel.

 Rather more catkins are carried by hazels growing out in the open.