An unseasonable month, with more joys found in the garden than out in the field.
My birthday had the worst weather for ever in my memory, but it didn't restrain me from the outdoors.
Warblers, butterflies, hoverflies and bees were welcomed, yet soon missed by mid-month onward due to the wet, windy, grey weather.
Gardening and cultivation continued, though all but for the fresh new green leaves (and cress!) seemed slow to grow. Oaks unfurled their leaves gradually, whilst beeches' buds remained closed.
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New spring leaves, garden
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Many things caught the observant-eye in the garden.
Lily of the valley shoots, curled, a delicate green, wholly-inedible tuile. I watched for the flowers.
Blue tits peeped into nest boxes. I wondered, will they bring material?
Blackbirds gathered food for nestlings, two females regular visitors to the garden.
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Blackbird, garden
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I potted-up this year's seedlings and established a new hedge: prickly native roses and trees.
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A peek inside: Apricot seeding
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Raindrops and new leaves, garden
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A Chiffchaff passed through the garden. The first of the spring warblers.
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Chiffchaff, garden
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RAF A400: A particularly large bird over the garden.
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| Dandelions |
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Breezy by the cherry tree
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Bluebell coming in to flower.
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Ladybird on Forget-me-not, garden
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Female Hairy-footed Flower Bee on Primrose
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By the 9th, weather turned to being not-at-all spring-like. A succession of low fronts passed through.
A Blackcap heard and then seen in the garden was most welcome, the second of a succession of warblers to come...I awaited the call of my first Willow Warbler.
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Blackcap in the birch, garden
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Common Carder Bee on Wild Garlic
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Female Orange-tip Butterfly on Alexanders
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Holly Blue on Ivy
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Crabapple Blossom
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The pump house
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Upon the path
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| Bluebells |
My first Willow Warbler was heard in tandem with the first Sedge Warblers, returned from Africa.
A mid-month day of sunshine and above-average temperatures was followed by unseasonable coldness for the rest of the month. I finished planting my hedge with thick rain, mizzle and 40mph+ gusts at my back, front, sides..!
A fierce north wind greeted me at the coast with charming regularity.
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Blowing sand
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Into the north wind...
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Hair styled courtesy of the wind...
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...and with the north wind behind me
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An upward glance at Blickling rewarded me with my first swallows of this year.
My first House Martins were seen at Holkham.
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| Swallow |
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Bullock, watcher upon the hill
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A trot round the old Iceni fort
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Egyptian Goose, Greylag Geese, Cattle Egrets
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| Chiffchaff |
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Small White butterfly
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Above the birch
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Lily of the Valley, garden
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Bad hair day for a Little Egret
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Little Grebe with prey
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| Avocet |
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Juvenile Woodpigeon
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The first fledgling to visit the garden was a Woodpigeon.
All month, Blackbirds and Starlings gathered food for nestlings. Blue Tits became less visible at the end of the month, presumed nesting.
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Grey skies, Wisteria flower buds
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At the end of the month, spring seemed in stasis. No butterflies, hoverflies, bees, warblers...
The Wisteria flower buds seemed halted in their growth, the budding roses on the cusp of opening. Only the grass seemed to flourish.
From the front window, I observed a Linnet juvenile being fed. These charming birds twittered and sang close by the windows all month.
The 29th, the sun promised warmth; the south wind stole it away. A bright day, nevertheless, which focused my senses forward to May and summer beyond. An Orange-tip butterfly visited the garden, welcomed back after all of the rain.
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Silk satin skirts: Dusky Cranesbill flowerbuds
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Green growth, blue skies
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Mites attacked my two Wisteria seedlings, felling one and damaging the other. The surviving seedling was transported to a warm windowsill: sickbay. After a week or so, its leaves unfurled but its stalk remained perilously-thin. The seedling will be nurtured, but if it does not survive, I will attempt to grow more later this year.
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Green hands to the sun: Wisteria seedling
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The last day of the month brought bright skies, even if they clouded over, and many people enjoying the coast in one way or another. More evident than ever, birds busied themselves with the pressing need for reproduction, and survival. Fragrant Alexanders were joined by Cow Parsley; burgeoning mayflower supplemented by the first pristine elderflower sprays.
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Cley beach
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Cley East Bank
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Sedge Warbler
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Reed Bunting, Alexanders
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Ascending the shingle away from the sea
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