Blog Archives: WildWivenhoe

The Beth Chatto Garden through the seasons: May

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildWivenhoe

Late May, and the gardens are burgeoning – flowers are flowering in abundance, insects and other visitors are active everywhere. And this year, the green bits are still green, such a contrast to last year when we were already in the grip of a severe drought. In fact this year overall the rainfall totals have been low, but there have been just enough downpours to keep the garden going. And with temperatures through May being on the low side, the flower colours set against the canvas of greens is simply vibrant. Feast your eyes on these, from plant panoramas ….

…to the finer details, the inner plantscapes:

It’s always a pleasure to see in the Beth Chatto gardens that the ‘gardeners’ curse’ of overtidiness doesn’t feature too much. While some may find long grass and dead flower heads unsightly, others – especially the insects and birds to which the garden is a home – don’t. Nature’s bounteous growth harbours food and provides shelter, all part of the natural ecology of the garden:

All of the insects and other invertebrates we found were exciting, but two bits of behaviour we had never seen before were thrilling to observe.  A pair of Malachius bipustulatus (Two-spotted Malachite Beetles) indulging in courtship behaviour, ‘kissing’ to transmit pair bonding pheromones….

… and it was especially good to see the first emergence of Scorpion-flies of the summer. The males have the eponymous ‘scorpion tail’ although it contains no sting, just a genital capsule, but both sexes have a protruding snout with jaws located at its tip. Widely supposed to be an adaptation to extracting insects from spiders’ webs without alerting the owner, this is certainly not the whole story. For the first time ever, we found one feeding, its beak deep in the body of its hapless prey – a spider!

#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: June – the leaves are alive on Lower Lodge

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, WildWivenhoe

Thank you to all the nature-addicts who joined us on Saturday.  The warm sunshine and gentle breeze made for very pleasant walks (if 400 metres in two hours qualifies as a walk!), and we certainly found lots to look at.  So much so we aren’t going to put many words into this month’s report – but let the pictures speak for themselves. We haven’t even labelled the pictures: please ask if you would like to know what they are…

As we know, as well as being vitally important for our ecosystems, insects vary hugely and are in fact classified into 22 different major groups or ‘orders’, reflecting their respective structures.

Beetles belong to the order  Coleoptera.  Coleos – a shield,  pteron – wing, and have hard wing cases which protect them.  They probably outnumber in species every other order of animal.

Moths belong to the order Lepidoptera   Lepidos – a scale,  pteron – wing.  We discovered several types of moth,  plus a couple of ‘cases’, ie  pupae where a moth has chewed out a section of leaf, to a very precise pattern, (how DO they know this?) as well as a couple of magnificent moth caterpillars. Sadly we were a week or two early for the spotted Burnet moths which will soon be abundant on Lower Lodge.  Butterflies are also Lepidopteran, but relatively few were out and about on Saturday, apart from Common Blues and Speckled Woods.

True bugs’ (as opposed to ‘bugs’ being the general term used for many insects) belong to the order Hemiptera   Hemi – half, pteron – wing.  This is an extremely varied order, and are further classified into suborders.

The three orders listed so far are three of the ‘big five’ insect groups, the others being Diptera (‘two-winged’) – Flies; and Hymenoptera (‘veil-winged’ – bees, wasps and ants). There are however many other smaller orders. Grasshoppers and crickets belong to the order Orthoptera   Orthos – straight,  pteron – wing.  Being early in the season, the bush crickets we found were nymphs, i.e. in their early stages of development.  They pass through a number of ‘instars’,  shedding their skins as they go,  before becoming adult.

Spiders – of course, these aren’t insects (ie they don’t have the requisite 6 legs) but are such interesting critters we could not possibly ignore them!

And of course Chris was also looking out for what was flowering, photographing a few flower heads (including the first Field Scabious, awaiting its complement of Burnet moths) and seed-head structures as he went, together with the remarkable fruiting structures of the Goat’s-beard Rust-fungus.

Happy nature watching.

#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: May – Cockaynes Reserve

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, Cockaynes Reserve, WildWivenhoe

So, which of these is a weed? Dandelion or Silver Birch?  The answer seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it, but in reality they both may OR may not be thought of as weeds.  It all depends on where you are and what you want from the land on which they are growing.  A weed is just a plant growing in the wrong place.

This was a topic of discussion on our Botany and Bug Walks this month.  Two groups of hardy souls (given the weather which was thrown at us) enjoyed a visit to one of our least-known beauty spots, namely the Cockaynes Reserve.  This reserve comprises two woods, with a patch of bare sandy soil near lakes which are the happy result of intensive sand and gravel extraction some years ago.  The whole site is a wildlife haven.

The sandy open ground is well managed by the Cockaynes Wood Trust specifically for our ultra-important (considering the state that we have all got ourselves into) invertebrates.  Without insect life, humans would disappear within a short time.  So….the Birch which naturally wants to grow in the sandy soil area is removed to allow room for insects to move in, nest and generally do what comes naturally to them.  A prize example of the insects is officially called the Early Colletes bee, though we would like to make a case for it to be known as the Bunny Bee.  The second half of its Latin name ‘cunicularis’  shares the root with that for Rabbits.  And it does share some rabbit-like characteristics, in that it is furry and burrows in sandy soil ( not sure about the fluffy tail though).   And (at least when the weather is warm) many hundreds of these bees can be seen nesting and buzzing along the sand banks.  This is nationally a very important colony for these useful pollinators.

So what about the Dandelion? Well, this old favourite is ‘Welcome at Cockaynes’ as one of the most important late-spring sources of nectar and pollen for insects.  A curious fact…what we think of as the dandelion flower, is in fact many closely packed in together.  Each little orange blade is an individual flower, which is easier to comprehend when it has turned itself into a beautiful clock seed-head… each seed comes from an individual flower.

Many other woodland plants were to be seen and enjoyed.  Of course, the favourite, the Bluebell, as well as Wavy Bittercress, Opposite leaved Golden-saxifrage which just loves living near the brook, and Red Campion (which grows as either an all-male or all-female plant) plus a myriad of others.

Three types of fern are found in  Villa Wood – Broad-Buckler and Male Ferns thriving in the lush conditions beside Sixpenny Brook, plus Bracken on the higher, drier soils. ‘The degree of pinnation’ Chris used to help identify them sound complex, but all it really means is ‘ferniness’….

Given the cold wind and sharp hail showers insects generally were pretty thin on the ground.  But our eagle-eyed groups did discover some nice examples – a Squash Bug sunning itself, bumblebees, flies plus a few moths.

In fact we found the smallest moth in Britain!  Micropterix calthella enjoys spending time in the cups of buttercups. They may only live for a few hours and so have to do what they have to do as a priority.  We caught a couple doing just this…..   Aren’t they handsome, and only 4mm or so long!

Another rather lovely moth enjoying a brief spell of sunshine was the Clouded Border.  It boldly lies out full view of any passing predator, knowing that it is partially protected by its disguise…it does look rather like a bird poo.  It belongs to the Geometrid group of moths, this term meaning ‘earth measurer’ and their caterpillars are the ‘inchworms’.

Having walked up past the lakes now full of water plants and a few birds, we finished our walk at the top, at Cockaynes Wood.  This is a much drier habitat than the lower, Villa Wood. And near it are a few patches of Heather, a very rare plant to grow in Essex.  Near here is a lovely field, which has been just left and apparently un-herbicided for a while, to allow many pretty annual plants to take root.  Many of these may be considered ‘weeds’ in a garden…they grow readily in disturbed soil.  But here, they were just delightful to see, and much better thought of as less-prejudicially as ‘Arable Plants’: Field Pansy, Groundsel, Fumitory, Poppy and Wild Radish.

Pipers at the Gates of Dawn

Britain's Wildlife, Miscellaneous, WildWivenhoe

At the Gates of Dawn we stood and listened
To the piping song which filled our hearts
And souls with joy.

Why do they sing so?

At the Gates of Dawn we filled our lungs
And shouted out to the whole world
To announce the day.

Why do they listen so?

To survive we need to attract a mate,
Defend our space, alert a danger
Of a stranger.

That’s why we sing so.

In this world of greed we have a need
To feed on good things, calm things,
Nature

That’s why we listen so.

By Jude, inspired by our recent Dawn Chorus walk.

 

The Beth Chatto Garden throughout the seasons: April

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildWivenhoe

Three weeks since our last visit. Three weeks which would normally see one of the greatest transformations in a garden, from winter to high spring: not this year though, when unseasonably warm spells in both mid-February and early March lit the flames of spring very early, and the cool northerlies of early April then held its advance at bay.

But the daffodils were largely over, their place being taken by fritillaries and Erythroniums…

…  Epimediums, Archangel and Uvularia.

Time for interesting angles and close-ups…

… and celebration of the spring greens, punctuated and highlighted by splashes of  colour.

From beds and borders, unfurling ferns rearing up like cobras…

… and Alchemilla leaves bedecked with dewdrop pearls, some magnifying the russet tooth tips, others reflecting the sky, before coalescing into the mercurial pools which give rise to the name of the ‘little alchemist’:

As always keeping our eyes open for the animal inhabitants, the more sheltered areas produced an array of basking bugs – Squash Bug and Green, Hairy and Gorse Shieldbugs:

   

… and beetles, including an almost spotless Harlequin Ladybird, and Rosemary Beetles, here transferring their allegiance to sages:

As befits the season, love was in the air for pairs of Green Shieldbugs and the large, wing-marked crane-fly Tipula vittata:

A few butterflies were on the wing, including our first Green-veined White of the year:

And of course, with insects showing, their predators were out and about, with Zebra Spiders well camouflaged on lichen-covered walls, and a Heliophanus jumping-spider waiting with hi-viz palps raised, ready to leap upon a suitable morsel.

Fifty shades of green…

Britain's Wildlife, WildWivenhoe

A Paean to Green, inspired by Cockaynes Wood

Sea green, pea green, spring green, olive green

mint green, lime green, jade green, forest green

Green is the colour of nature, of life itself.

Or rather greens are the colours of nature and life, a whole spectrum of hues revealed in breathtaking splendour when fresh foliage is drenched in the new light of spring:

And not just the leaves. While many spring woodland  flowers scream for attention, others show  the art of the subtle.  Acid green April Acers bursting forth in the canopy, copper-tinged catkins of Oak and Birch draping down:

At the ground, cushions of Golden-Saxifrage, and dangles of Redcurrants:

And Moschatel. Stories of green giving glory to green. How to describe Moschatel?   A musky smell? Not really, at least to my nose. Unique? Certainly, at least until recently treated as the sole species in its family, in the world.

In part that uniqueness is down to the disportment if its five flowers, four (five-petalled) like the faces of a clock tower, one (four-petalled) on the top pointing upwards, as I was told recently ‘so the Spitfire pilots could tell the time’. Hence its alter ego Town-Hall Clock: now that’s a name which does as it says on the tin. But its scientific name Adoxa (Greek for ‘without glory’): a travesty for one of the most delightful, unassuming spring woodland blooms.

Sea green, pea green, spring green, olive green

mint green, lime green, jade green, forest green

      the colours of life … of spring … of now

Vote Green : the colour with a future…

 

Basking bugs and beasties – Wivenhoe Wildlife Garden

Britain's Wildlife, WildWivenhoe

So lovely today: a misty start, but very still. As the mist dispersed towards lunchtime, so the sun came out and it turned into a perfect, warm spring day. The new season’s crop of insects were taking advantage of it in a big way, basking to warm up and get on with the important business of feeding, growing and reproducing.

True bugs come in various shapes and sizes, but all have sucking mouthparts, to feed on plant sap in the case of those shown here. Green Shield-bugs have overwintered as adults, and the baskers included some still in ‘winter plumage’, dull brownish, as well as crisp green (but well-camouflaged) ones in their summer apparel.

The grass-bug Stenodema laevigata  and the violin-shaped Squash Bug Coreus marginatus also winter in the adult stage of their life-cycles: good reason not to be too tidy in a garden and removing their chosen sheltered hibernation sites. The former also undergoes seasonal colour changes, brown to green, albeit less marked than in the Green Shield, while Coreus remains brown throughout, perhaps finding some camouflage among the necrotic brown leaf patches left by its feeding activities.

Aphids too are plant-sucking bugs: after such a mild winter we should expect large populations to build up rapidly, although if we don’t interfere with (ie poison) nature, using pesticides, hopefully their natural predators such as ladybirds (below left, a 10-spotted Ladybird checking out an ensheathing throng of Elder Aphids) will exert their natural controls.

In fact, ladybirds were everywhere. There were a few of the familiar Seven-spots and Harlequins, and an occasional Pine Ladybird (seemingly no longer restricted to the leaves of the plant after which it is named), a smaller species with a spot and a comma on each wing-case (above, right). But the vast majority, presumably recently-emerged, were Ten-spotted Ladybirds – at least, probably this species, given the extreme variation in pattern and colour, as shown here – none of these actually have ten spots!

Ladybirds, while variable, usually have the combination of red and black, or yellow and black, indicating that they are unpalatable to birds. Other, presumably more palatable beetles, rely for their defence on camouflage, although this tortoise beetle Cassida rubiginosa also has an all-encompassing carapace which must help.

Other predators were of course also out in force, in places seemingly almost every other leaf harbouring spiders. Most were Nursery-web Spiders Pisaura mirabilis, but a smaller one was a Xysticus crab-spider (probably X. cristatus, at the boldly-marked end of this species’  spectrum). And the spiders were mainly after flies – today witnessed a large emergence of adult Lesser St Marks Flies, which typically appear a little in advance of the larger, ‘true’ St Mark’s Fly, which usually puts in its first appearance around St Mark’s Day, 25 April.

Finally, back to the beetles. Acorn Weevils are one of the most charismatic of critters, whose larvae develop inside acorns. Last year, we remarked with concern how few we had seen, so it was something of a relief to see several out and about today, both long-snouted females and (relatively) short-snouted males.

Update from 10 April…

A couple of days on, and another exciting insect from the same area. This is a Parasitic fly called Tachina lurida, whose larvae live as internal parasites of the caterpillars of some larger moths. May well be widespread in Essex, but the records show only three previous from the county, including one at Brightlingsea.

 

#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: April – the woods in Spring

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, WildWivenhoe

What a lot of things there were to look at on our Botany and Bug walks yesterday! The woods were bursting with botanical life and, even though it was drizzly and far from warm, some bug life was tenaciously hanging on in readiness for the better weather, sure to come.

Wivenhoe Wood is an ancient woodland,  one which is assumed to have existed since the last Ice Age. This rather wonderful fact is indicated in part by the presence of two rather wonderful plants, namely the Bluebell and Wood Anemone . Although often located in the same woodlands, these actually thrive on different substrates, Bluebells preferring more gravelly and drained areas typically nearer top of hills and Anemones in damper, more clayey soils. We are lucky to have both of these beauties, doing what they oughta, on our doorstep. (Click here for Chris’ blog about how to tell native Bluebells from the Spanish variety).

Other flowers of particular splendour included the Yellow Archangel, Primrose, Common Dog-violet, Greater Stitchwort and the beautifully named Celandine, sharing its name with the Greek for Swallow, as their arrival is often coincidental.

Of course we could not ignore the trees, nor the importance of their management within the woodland ecosystem. In days of yore when woods did their own thing, trees grew until they naturally died and fell crashing down, creating clearings, which allowed light to enter to give life to the flowers of the forest. Along with the trampling of Wild Boar, Aurochs and other large fauna, the disturbance would have kept things constantly changing.

However, nowadays, in the absence of large beasties, and trees often being surgically removed before they grow too large and unsafe, it is important that man steps in to create patches of light to keep the woodland floor alive. Although rather dramatic and destructive to the uninitiated, the practice of coppicing is vital for a woodland’s health. We could see the evidence of this for ourselves. Some of the coppiced ‘stools’ are probably hundreds of years old with their original trunk stumps often rotting away (vital for invertebrates), yet still ‘alive’ and allowing any number of small trees to grow up out of them. These poles are often harvested for useful economic crop too. Colchester Borough Council are to be congratulated on their management practices.

So what can trees themselves tell us? Well, for one thing ‘What Lies Beneath’. An Alder is a sure sign that a spring flows nearby, as these trees like their feet wet all the time. And sure enough, near one such individual, was a very damp area where we saw our first, and most spectacular invertebrate offering of the day…a large female cranefly Tipula vittata, industrially poking her abdomen into the mud over and over again, laying her eggs. The beautifully blossomy Wild Cherry likes free-flowing water draining over its roots, and so shows it is living on a gravelly layer.

Surprising splashes of colour helped to brighten a dull day, none more so than the occasional trunk plastered with the vivid orange terrestrial alga Trentepohlia; likewise the fleeting flowers of Field Maple and Norway Maple (originally posted wrongly as Sycamore), in various hues of green.

The afternoon walkers were luckier on the insect-front than their morning compatriots, and chalked up both the Kidney-spot Ladybird and the Orange Ladybird (itself an indicator of ancient woodland ). The Kidney-spot was photobombed by a Birch Catkin-bug, but we will forgive it…

We can’t leave our Day At The Woods report without mentioning the wonderful sculpture-from-nature that has appeared (through much hard work) near Lower Lodge. It is if course much more than a work of art…it is a stag beetle stumpery! Over time the wood beneath the ground will rot away and hopefully provide conditions to support the larvae of these amazing creatures. They will chomp away on the dead wood for a few years (the nutritional value of wood is low, and these creatures need to grow big, so it takes ages!), then on a warm day in June the adults will emerge. They will fly around in an undignified manner hoping to bump into (literally) someone of the opposite sex to do business with. Eggs will be laid and after a few short weeks the adults will die. You could say that their life seems very short, and that it’s hardly worth the effort, but as one of our group pointed out ‘A life-cycle never ends….’, which I think would be a very appropriate place to leave things this time……..

…….apart from to thank everyone who participated in our event this month. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

 

What a pa-larva…!

Britain's Wildlife, WildWivenhoe

…if you’ll pardon the pun! Sorry for the title, but Jude insisted on it, and as she found all these critters, I could hardly refuse…

The bright spring sunshine today drew us out onto the Wivenhoe Trail, to Whitehouse Beach. And the insects too were taking full advantage. One typical feature of Spring is that the larval stages of insects come to the fore, doing what they do best – feeding – so that they can emerge as adults during the peak summer months.

Two moth larvae first, of a very different size despite the fact that they will be adults only a month apart. Brown-tail Moth caterpillars are well known for their communual feeding, based around a silken retreat, leading to defoliation of their food-plants. Those found today were only some 4mm long, having overwintered in their webs as even tinier larvae. But even at this diminutive size, their irritant hairs are well formed, giving them some protection against hungry birds.

Much larger in size was the ‘woolly-bear’ of a Cream-spot Tiger moth, which will have hatched and started to feed properly last summer, such that this year, all it needed was a top up and it was ready to pupate. Which is why we found it wandering along the path looking for an appropriately safe pupation site.

Finally, beetle larvae. Many will be familiar with those we would call ‘grubs’, blobby, slow-moving and often living inside that which they feed upon, such as dead wood. But beetle larvae are as varied as beetle adults, and the one we spotted was progressing rapidly, probably one of the ground beetles, on the hunt for slugs or caterpillars.

The Beth Chatto Garden throughout the seasons: March

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildWivenhoe

Anyone who loves photographing flowers will know the feeling: when a burgeoning Spring releases a cornucopia of blooms in every colour that the past winter of relative inactivity is brought greedily to an end with an irrepressible flurry of snapping…

The urgency of this need, for me at least, is so strong that it goes well beyond the ‘normal’ approach to flower photography. Of course, the standard portraits are not ignored….

 

… but the visceral impact of the massed ranks simply cannot be ignored…

Equally, to revert from the big picture to the minutiae of Nature reveals the ‘Art in the Detail’, all too easily overlooked and unheralded….

 

… while interesting lighting and a focus on parts other than the flowers can bring other artistic rewards:

 

Given the cold northerly wind on the day of our visit, insect life was not as abundant, or obvious, as we had hoped. But in the woodland garden, the tree trunks served as something of the wind-screen and the absence of expanded leaves allowed sunlight through, enough to encourage the basking and feeding of some bugs and beasties:

And we were very pleased to see our first Dark-edged Bee-fly and Box Bug of the year:

Last of all, a question: coincidence or design? Is this Cicadellid really actively seeking to pretend it is a leaf serration?

 

#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: March – searching for signs of Spring along the Wivenhoe Trail

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, WildWivenhoe

Q: What do horses’ hooves, turkey tails, yellow brains and a vinegar cup all have in common? A: All types of fungi found on our Botany & Bug walks yesterday. What evocative English names for these varied and interesting organisms and all to be found on just a short walk along Wivenhoe Trail!

 

Thank you to all who braved the cold, strong winds and showers. The patches of sunshine were very welcome, not only to us, but to the few brave insects that were out on their normal Saturday business… …Hairy-footed Flower-bees nectaring at the White Dead-nettles and Seven-spotted Ladybirds basking and warming after their winter sleep.

The life-cycle of some critters is pretty amazing. .. scale insects start life as little aphid-like creatures, (known as ‘crawlers ‘) who live on the undersides of leaves. Once they are fully grown they snuggle down on their favourite leaf, lose their legs, grow a shell, attach their sucking mouthparts (a feature of all ‘true bugs ‘) and stay there. Never to move again.

Pretty safe you may think, but one had been found by some parasite or another and wasn’t a pretty sight. When alive, these bugs secrete a honey-dew like substance which drips down to the leaves below, providing a food-base for yet more wildlife, sooty moulds.  Nothing in nature is wasted!

 

Another of nature’s oddities are bagworms. These are nothing to do with worms, but the early stages of some types of micromoth, which variously make their protective coverings out of bits and pieces they can find. A couple of species had attached themselves to fence posts etc, waiting until the time comes for them to fly away … if indeed they can – many females remain wingless all their lives and stay put in their bags.

  

Plants are of course great indicators of the season and we were able to see a number of ‘first footers’ emerging. Whitlow-grass (not a grass), Red and White Dead-nettles (not nettles), Ivy-leaved Speedwell (not ivy), Dog’s Mercury (neither nor) but what’s in a name? These are all important sources of nectar and/or pollen for emerging bees and other important insects. Talking of names, one of the springing-green plants has more common names than any other: Arum maculatum. A well-known plant, and indicator of ancient woodland, its many monikers are connected to ‘adult themes ‘, given the phallic shape of its flower spike and the enclosing soft leaves ( you get the drift!)….Lords-and-Ladies, Soldiers-diddies and Cuckoo-pint (modesty prevents me from explaining what ‘pint’ refers to!).

  

At this time of year it is easy to see the many Blackthorn bushes still in tight bud, and indeed we encountered some on our walk.  In contrast, when walking over the rail bridge in the High Street you may have seen pretty blossom which is in fact non-native Cherry-plum. Often taken incorrectly for Blackthorn, it can be distinguished by subtle differences in flower structure, earlier flowering,  and its leaves emerging at the same time, not after, the flowers. Fruits of these will be similar to the Blackthorn’s sloes, but less bitter, needing less sugar to make that all-important gin in the autumn!

Holm Oak (like the huge specimens on KGV) are proving to be a mixed blessing it seems. Magnificent and evergreen, they are a feature of many a parkland and with the help of Jays and other birds, are dispersed and germinate readily. Again non-native, they could potentially squeeze out our own beloved species. When originally brought here, the climate was considered too cold for them to spread but of course we all know what is happening to our temperatures. Luckily, natural controls may be starting to have an effect and Holm Oaks along the trail feature the tell-tale signs of leaf-miner damage. These mines show the passages created by tiny larvae of small moths, which chomp away at the leaves, remaining between the upper and lower surfaces, until they pupate, break free and fly off.

An interesting feature of some Elm trees along the trail and elsewhere is ‘corking’, i.e. corky-looking growths along branches. This phenomenon seems to affect only certain species and the causes not fully understood, but it may be the tree’s natural defence to particular stresses, e.g. salt for the trail-dwellers.  Whilst looking closely at some bark, an eagle-eyed member of our afternoon group spotted a moving red blob, a fine specimen of a Red Velvet Mite, and once our eyes were in, the sunny trunks were seen to be teeming with them.

Walking so close to the town, garden ‘escapees ‘ were very much a feature. ..these are an increasing cause for concern, as some (like variegated Yellow Archangel) are more robust than their native cousins and could be pose a threat to the natural population through genetic pollution. Of course most gardeners wouldn’t dream of chucking their garden waste over the hedge into a wild area, but some do….

Apricity in #wildwivenhoe

Britain's Wildlife, WildWivenhoe

I learned a new word today, thanks to Weatherwatch in the Guardian. And what a useful word it is: Apricity – old English for the warmth of the sun on a winter’s day, something we all recognise and value, rousing us from winter slumber, even if as with the past two weeks it rings all sorts of alarm bells about climate change.

For some things, aprication is simply passive heating, for others it embraces disinfection by exposure to UV light. Whatever the role, the invertebrate life in Wivenhoe’s wildlife garden today was apricating abundantly. Among the hoverflies, ladybirds and Nursery-web Spiders was my first Red Admiral of the year, not unexpectedly perhaps, but also the first Hairy-footed Flower-bees emerging from hibernation, a good two or three weeks in advance of their usual date.

At least there are early nectar or pollen sources for the insects, as the prolonged warmth has coaxed Red Dead-nettles and Annual Mercury into flower, while in the hedges the first Cherry-plums have opened, catching the last dew-drops of a misty morn.