In the same week it has been hotter than South America one day and bitterly cold another. When planning to go out for the day what to wear is a nightmare. The only guarantee is that it will be wrong, so how nature plans what to do and when is a mystery.
On visiting the woodland project one bright fresh morning last week I experienced one of those transcendant moments when your heart breaks and words fail to describe the spiritual impact of the moment. (Noumenon - imponderable essence) The visual, audio and olfactory senses are overwhelmed all at once by the perfection and harmony of the moment. (Pure Gerard Manley Hopkins ) Photographs cannot record a reality such as this, so when the camera battery gave out it was a blessing because I could concentrate more on being there.
After such a long long winter my spirit felt down trodden and lifeless. Possibly being so low meant I had a huge amount of upward motion to work with (I said words are inadequate but I will try, because it would be selfish to hide it, but be assured it is safely deposited in the treasure box.)
The trees appear to be blossoming all at the same time be it late. For the cherry and fruit trees this means the blossom as hung on for longer and not been blasted off by heavy wind and rain as is usual.
,Slowly Queen bees and butterflies are starting to appear. Cuckoo flower the favourite of the Orange Tip Butterfly, is scarce this spring because of the late wintry weather as it is one of the first wildflowers of the season, so we will not see many butterflies that are exclusively dependant on this flower.
Having said that Dandelions are having a bumper year...so it seems swings and roundabouts who benefits from what.
Like the nature writer Richard Mabey I worry each year about the arrival of the Swifts. This year only 2 have arrived and 2 weeks on still no more. This is devastating as swooping screaming squadrons of swifts ARE summer. They only stay for 6 weeks to breed and then back to Africa, so does this mean the end for them. 50% have gone in the last 10 years, but I would settle for half of last years.
As a result I contacted the Dee Estuary Recorders who sent me a reassuring email that 50 had been counted but as the weather was so good they would could be flying very high.
Bearing in mind I have tiny dark floaters in my eyes I find spotting distant birds problematic so maybe I have seen them.
Much to my delight I did see 2 Spotted Flycatchers and these were definitely not floaters, dancing after insects in an complex aerobatic display considerable.
Snails and slugs are back so must get my tasty camp coffee paper out to see what artist efforts I can get this year. (Photos to follow )
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