The weather during the second week of lockdown was mixed. It began with snow flurries and sleet but ended with the warmest day of the year so far.
I continued my daily exercise walks around my area and saw more wild flowers, trees, bees and birds enjoy Spring.
Plants that began to bloom last week were;
– Shepherd’s Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris),
– Snake’s head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris),
– Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum),
– Annual honesty (Lunaria annua),
– Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris)
– and Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus).
I also noticed my first Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) clock of the year
along with Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) trees budding at this time too.
One particularly special moment occurred last Wednesday when I visited my local woodland park. I went for my exercise as early as possible so that I would avoid too many people. As I entered the park I heard a sound of my childhood, that of Skylarks (Alauda arvensis). I grew up surrounded by farmland, similar to where I live now, and Skylarks singing was familiar to me (see RSPB).
I knew there were nesting Skylarks in this area because of a notice I saw last year (see my blog post Relaxing into Autumn). There were three Skylarks, two were clearly a pair. Occasionally the third bird would get too close to the other two; causing a noisy aerial display before they all returned to the open ground apart once again. I watched this happen four times as I carefully moved around them; maintaining a distance so that I wouldn’t disturb them unnecessarily. Seeing and hearing these lovely birds was a beautiful experience to witness.
On Friday, while at home, I heard a group of Magpies (Pica pica). They were making such a raucous noise that I looked outside to see what was occurring. I was fascinated to see one Magpie (which was trying to escape) pinned down and being pecked at by another one. As this occurred, four more Magpies kept flying in, occasionally taking part in the attack. Eventually the bird which was under attack escaped and forced by the group to fly away. I have witnessed birds defend territories before but not like that.
Another sound I became aware of later in the week, were Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris), (See RSPB). Although I heard their call, I was unable to see them. However I have observed a Great tit (Parus major) and Coal tit (Periparus ater) and several Blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) visit the Rowan (Sorbus) tree outside my flat.
Bee in the Moment 