Spring continuing wet and with below-average temperatures as has been the case for last few years.
Cool, damp and windy for the most part: light frosts, pale breath and arctic air makes one long for heat of the unseasonable February earlier this year.
Leaves unfurling and expanding, with a general aspect of greens and yellows.
Summer migrant birds arriving and settling in.
Wood Pigeon pair.
"Temperatures disappointing for the time of year," confirms the weather forecast.
Redpoll feeding in silver birch.
A Lesser Redpoll feeding in the garden; it feels more winter than spring.
Cool breezes off the river Yare, arctic winds and chills from the North sea, but a soft green haze of foliage. Oaks and Beeches at last unfurl leaves. Leaf cases cascade at the start of the month, catkins by its end.
Apple seedlings potted up, vigorous cherry seedlings next.
The longer lighter days since the spring equinox spur on new growth, grass growing thickly.
Lawn mowers, hedgecutters and trimmers heard often.
Writing notes following a picnic under a cherry tree.
Finger sandwiches: egg mayo; tuna and cucumber. Strawberry tarts for a sweet, all eaten beneath a blossoming cherry tree. My picnic season opens on a chilly, dull day.
Herring Gull pair at Blakeney.
Winter flocks now dispersed; many birds now observed in pairs.
A Mistle Thrush is heard once, a call back to January. Song Thrushes a delight, but heard rarely.
Cattle graze in pastures, some with tiny calves. Held up in traffic on the Cromer road, blue lights flashing: an accident? From behind a building on the edge of a field, a bullock trots onto the road, followed by another: drooling, sweaty, exhausted. Remain still. They are not volatile spooked horses. The bullocks continue onward to Norwich; to the left, three trot heavily down a pasture furrow. Cars move on, a farmer and his trailer pass with a police car behind, following the bullocks.
Wisteria flower-buds.
Copper-cased buds opening on the Wisteria, flowers forming. A bumper spread ahead: a pleasant surprise, after the previous dry summer. Ladybirds active and numerous after seeming scarce last year. Buds on the roses and pollen in the air. Sneezes, ice cream van and light aircraft heard.
A solitary Swallow over Blickling lake is part of a small flock by the 24th. Swallows are about, but not numerous (yet?).
Bright skies, bright water as the sun glances.
A Goldfinch pair regularly feeds on dandelions, whilst a busy Blackbird enjoys an offering of apples.
Breezy, breezy on the beach.
The House Martins have returned to Holkham, swallows too, reuniting with their nests or scouting out for a new one. All Wigeon have gone from the marshes. Barnacle Geese squabble at the lake as pairs and territory are defined; two Greenfinches fly up from a hedge, fighting.
A purr-fect poser.
Hawthorn blossom noticed 17th April, and much of the Blackthorn blossom is now waning, earlier than the year previous.
Diffuse skies for an evening walk. Delighted hearing the Common Terns cawing at Blickling lake; returned from travels far afar, first observed 21st April but possibly back sooner than that.
Comma butterfly.
Cinnabar moth.
Butterflies seen in variety if not quantity. Peacock most commonly seen. Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Brimstone, Comma. Nettles thick and fragrant, but not as heavily-scented as the laurel now flowering. Delighted to see a Cinnabar moth, having seen only their larvae last year.
Cuckoo flower spotted 24th April: how soon to hear a cuckoo?
Reports of cuckoos returning since mid-April, but not heard one yet.
Sheep return to pastures with lambs.
Most horses in paddocks still rugged; a few graze with the sun on their backs. Heavy hail shower on the 25th.
Beautiful Bluebells, and not yet in full bloom. Wood Anemone faces the sun.
Blackbirds sing regularly throughout the day. Busy birds feeding nestlings, a few males with tatty feathers. Fledgling heard begging but not seen; seen only a dead fledgling on the patio.
Starling squadrons in the garden, busy busy, probing and hunting, speeding off to feed youngsters.
One day, a maestro mimics multiple birds: Blackbird, Woodpecker, Tawny Owl, Magpie, Long-tailed Tit, and more.
Warblers, delicate skies and foliage, on the broads.
Willow Warbler.
Cuckoo heard 29th April.
Willow Warbler singing whilst a Cuckoo calls from a distance, the latter for short bursts; but, will anticipate soon, "In May I sing all night and day".
Boats returning to the quiet broads and dykes.
A Great Crested Grebe rides the swell on the river Yare whilst busy pairs nest on a broad
Sampling the goods as the very local vineyard Winbirri reopens their garden for the season.
A respite from clouds and chills at the middle and the end of the month with bright sunshine, hot for driving.
Mute Swans nesting. New green shoots a base to last-years dead reeds.
Alexanders fragrant on road verges, with escaped oilseed rape and cow parsley blooming at intervals.
Busy Black-tailed Godwits, feeding and squabbling on pools. Rusty breeding plumage evident.
Cley Long-billed Dowitcher remaining, now first summer.
Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff prolific, but other warblers only heard infrequently: teases of a Blackcap's song.
Just about mild enough to sit outside listening to the Blackbirds singing at dusk 21:00.
Summer evenings outdoors not so far away.
My sounds of April
Chiffchaff
Blackbird
Sedge warbler
