Springime In Bloom

The sudden really cold snap made a coastal foray impossible so this weeks nature article is all about our early spring flowers ,with all the warm weather we have had many species of flowers are weeks early, and the woods and hedgerows are full of colour and life which in turn has meant a early showing of bees,hover flies and insects and early nesting of birds that rely on these.Already nesting are blackbirds,song thrushes,blue tits,great tits and finches.
You will probably notice that a great number of early flowers are yellow in colour,the reason behind this is that many of the early insects have a different visual spectrum to us and see the world as shades of grey apart from yellow they see this as a stand out red and are drawn towards them first by sight then by smell if you look closely at these flowers you will see all manner of flies on them,this in turn leads to spiders casting webs around these same flowers.After the early yellow flowers blue,white and red are never far behind usually in that order these flowers usually have a stronger scent to them ,if you are out and about over Easter keep your eyes open for all the following flowers and see how many you can spot.

Lesser Celandine

This early flowering splash of yellow is often confused with Buttercups,but they come out much later, the Lesser Celandine often carpets large areas down woodland paths and edges of woods.

Colts foot

Another early yellow flower often confused with the Dandelion but the stem and leaves are much different.

Dandelion

This vibrant flower is classed as a weed by some but its early showing and rich pollen makes it a favourite for early Bees and Hover flies.

Dandelion

A very early seed head from the Dandelion flower ,children love to pick these and blow the seeds off.

Cowslip

A bright yellow flower much loved by the garden Bumble bee.

Marsh Marigold

Common in ditches and marshy ground 5 sepals not petals.

Daffodil

Not primarily a wild flower but the early yellow trumpets of these common flowers are a lifeline for early nectar seeking insects.

Hedge Mustard

Very early to see this lone flower favoured by butterflies.

Gorse Bush.

early flowering prickly bush once again vital for early pollen hunting insects.

Primroses

A wonderful early pale yellow flower that can carpet vast areas spectacular but very local.

Some blue and white common flowers now once again keep your eyes open for these early flowers.

Forget Me Not

Well known common blue flower, very small but usually appears in bunches,there are many sub species of this flower.

Dog Violet

Very common small blue flower seen especially in shady ,woody areas.

Bluebells

One of our glorious spring woodland flowers ,to see the woods full of these is a memory that will live with you for ever the woods at the moment are full of them,Brockholes and Brock bottoms are great places to see them.Sometimes they come in rarer shades like these next two pictures.

Rare White Bluebell about to open.

Purple Bluebells

I spotted these in the middle of a wooded slope with no other flowers near a first for me.

Wood Anemone.

A beautiful woodland white flower a sign of ancient woodland, and once again will carpet woodland floors tends to stay closed on cloudy days.

Daisy

A well known flower that children love to make chains out of .

Hairy Bitter cress

The delicate small white flowers of this flower are common all year the plants leaves are delicious in a salad.

Ransoms

Ransoms or wild garlic you will smell before you see ,vital for insects and delicious when the leaves are used in salads please never take anything you are not sure of ,as there are some pretty poisonous plants out there.

Garlic Mustard.

The leaves very much look like White Nettles but when crushed give a garlic smell a favourite of white butterflies.

Red Campion

Very early for this wonderful flower that lasts all through summer.

I hope you have enjoyed this wander through some of our early Spring flowers ,next time you are out and about keep your eyes open for them,please do not pick them but take pictures and help your children identify them or just look for yourself ,i will every few weeks put up more new pictures as the year unfolds and more and more flowers come in to bloom, my last picture is of the wonderful Cherry Blossom what finer sight in spring time.

Cherry Blossom.

Just as i was writing this ,i took a break and went outside and looked up in the sky and saw a Osprey circling the reservoirs before flying north on his migration from Africa to Scotland and further North hope you have a great Easter and get yourselves out for a walk and enjoy the nature all around you  nature man Andy