May 2013

Summer is on its way at last!  The wind has changed and is now blowing from a more south-westerly direction.  Almost immediately, this change accelerated the swelling of buds on the trees. Also, at last the migrant birds are arriving, such as the Swallows which arrived in Uckfield about the 14th April.  Cuckoos have been heard and Chiffchaffs have started to sing.  As for the resident birds, a pair of Blackbirds has raised 3 chicks in a nest built among the Ivy on the side of our house.  They have been growing in the nest for about 10 days, and left the nest on 19th April.  The timing of this was amazingly lucky as hatching coincided with the change in wind direction. Consequential warming led to the reappearance of Earthworms on which parent Blackbirds rely to feed the chicks.  The Blue Tits have started building their nests, but are doing so about two weeks later than usual.

The (wild and cultivated) Daffodils have had an extended season this year; they seem to like the cold.  However, the Honeybees have not been able to get out and collect nectar and pollen until recently.  There may be a shortage of honey this year as many colonies have died during the extended winter. The Wood Anemones are flowering in the ancient woodlands now and are carpeting the woodland floor.  Lake Wood is a good place to see them.  By mid-May, they should be all but over, and replaced by Bluebells.  Wood Anemones are usually only found in truly ancient woodlands, that is, woodlands that have existed for at least 400 years, and have probably always existed since the last ice age about 10,000 years ago. They generally spread underground from tubers, and rarely survive if transplanted. Areas of woodland cleared of alien plant invaders such as Rhododendron ponticum which are surrounded by Wood Anemones take decades to be recolonized by Wood Anemones, indicating how slowly this plant spreads.  By late autumn, there will be no sign of the Anemone plants among the leaf litter.  When in flower their petals are mostly white, but some have various amounts of purple tinge on them.  Also, when they are in full flower on a windless day, the sweet aroma from these flowers can pervade the woodland.  The flowers close up at night, and generally open at about mid-day.  Bumble Bees quite like them, but other insects rarely visit them.  I have never seen any evidence of Anemones setting or growing from seed.