Mid April 2020 - and on 16th blossom was seen on all the fruit trees but as usual the north facing trees were slightly less advanced. Hawthorn blossom was magnificent on sheltered banks, the rest waiting for May.
Hawthorn blossom on 16th April 2020, attracting insects.
The flowers appear after the plant comes into leaf.
Bees were so numerous and moving so fast from flower to flower that it was difficult to track them on the fruit blossom:
The noise of their humming was incredibly loud, there being no other source of sound apart from singing birds and buzzing from other insects on the riverside. There was still plenty of sunlight filtering through the still small leaves on most of the other trees along the banks with more Cuckooflower and Garlic Mustard plants flowering, attracting yet more Orange-tip and Brimstone butterflies.
The chiffchaffs were easily the loudest and most persistent birds present, but one pair was seen building a nest in a bush, each bringing in choice grasses whilst making small 'hweet' calls to keep in continuous contact with each other They cease to call loudly when nesting.
A male bullfinch was heard calling in a Willow for quite a while, it's bright plumage very obvious agains a background of Hawthorn blossom. The female was far less visible.
Blackbirds, song thrushes, great spotted woodpecker, robins, dunnocks and wrens were all singing and a kingfisher flew low along the steep banks around the meander.
In shadier parts the first Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) was flowering:
Fragile flowers with fine leaves and stems attract small insects, important but often overlooked
in woodland.
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