30th April 2016 - a fine frosty start, clouding over later with dark clouds banking up racing over bringing frequent squalls with icy rain. One could hear the wind and rain approaching before the riverside was plunged into darkness. After the rain, suddenly the sun would bring light and warmth but for too short a time. Initially the plan was to look for butterflies along the banks that afternoon but only one was seen, a male Orange Tip, fluttering low on the bank not daring to fly high but keeping low amongst the grasses where it could drop down onto the stalks as soon as the wind and rain returned.
I had been walking for only two minutes before the first dark cloud raced over. Birds that were singing fell silent and flew to cover, the hawthorn now in leaf provided some shelter.
Chiffchaffs, wrens, robins and great tits all making the most of the sun still easily seen, dropped down below the banks to get out of the swirling wind which tore Oak catkins and young leaves off the branches. The birds fell silent, even the Nuthatch which had been calling persistently. Sheltering under the Hawthorn with the noise of the approaching squall coming closer, I was startled to heard a very low pitched loud drumming from an old bare ash tree almost immediately above - a great spotted woodpecker had chosen a tree with maximum effect, quite a different sound to the usual woodland trees chosen. In the distance another great spotted woodpecker was drumming too, but without appearing from behind the tree trunks.
The rainstorm soon cleared and I walked further along the river where a a third great spotted woodpecker flew over me into an oak, showing its fine colours, whilst the other two were still drumming in the distance. This bird was silent and probably has a nest. As the sun warmed up the leaves wet with icy rain, a blackcap started to sing, then a willow warbler was heard and a whitethroat song came from a dense bramble thicket. About 20 herring gulls flew over whilst blue tits and two long-tailed tits were busy fast-foraging before the next rainstorm hit. A song thrush foraged quietly along it's own hedgerow base in the sun, pausing now and again to spread out its tail and wings to soak up the warmth of the sun for a minute. Blackbirds and robins acted in a similar manner whilst thick-coated bumblebees ranged along the wild flowers on the banks and amongst the hedgerow blossom.
It was good to see the first crab apple blossom buds were just appearing.
Wild Garlic flowering on the banks amongst Hazels and Hawthorn
The rainstorm soon cleared and I walked further along the river where a a third great spotted woodpecker flew over me into an oak, showing its fine colours, whilst the other two were still drumming in the distance. This bird was silent and probably has a nest. As the sun warmed up the leaves wet with icy rain, a blackcap started to sing, then a willow warbler was heard and a whitethroat song came from a dense bramble thicket. About 20 herring gulls flew over whilst blue tits and two long-tailed tits were busy fast-foraging before the next rainstorm hit. A song thrush foraged quietly along it's own hedgerow base in the sun, pausing now and again to spread out its tail and wings to soak up the warmth of the sun for a minute. Blackbirds and robins acted in a similar manner whilst thick-coated bumblebees ranged along the wild flowers on the banks and amongst the hedgerow blossom.
It was good to see the first crab apple blossom buds were just appearing.
Crab apple blossom just appearing in a short interlude of sunshine
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