April 2007

Overview

April

The hawthorn is the commonest British shrub and the traditional component of an English hedgerow.

Under the blackthorn which also flowers this month, the hawthorn’s five petalled flowers bloom whilst its bright green leaves are dispalyed. By October the red berries disappear.

Wrens, our second smallest bird (the goldcrest being the smallest) actively seek insects beneath and within hawthorns throughout April

Pond skaters

Not to miss out on all the coupling among the wildlife in the Pleasaunce, Jason spotted these pond skaters in the heather pond.

A dozen duckings

A day after hundreds of families flocked to the Pleasaunce to win Easter eggs, a dozen ducklings emerged in the Moat. Fourteen were born just before Easter and helped into the water by the keepers.

Terrapin

Among the fish in the Moat, a couple of terrapins can be seen

A host of many-coloured daffodils

In the woodland glen, there are a host of not only golden, but many other colours of daffodils fluttering and dancing in the breeze

See some close-ups

Blossom special

The unusually warm spring weather has brought the Pleasance's blossom out early. The trees in the walled garden were kept to provide fruit for the Well Hall estate.

Nodding violets

'I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows'

Not midsummer yet but a bank with plenty of nodding voilets is to be seen in the woodland glen.

Thrush chick

After a period of quiet from the thrushes in the Pleasaunce, a chick emerged in the south east corner of the walled garden last week. From the early date, it might well be a mistle thrush chick.

Catkins

Catkins, a traditional sign of early spring are well displayed now on the alder and corckscrew hazel trees in the woodland glen. In the case of the alder, the male catkin is long and the female hard and small. For the hazel, the female is bright pink, and develops into a nut later in the season. Catkins are found in many plant families, including also the birch, willow, oak.