Countryside Rangers Diary
April
Spring is here! The vegetation is changing from the browns and
grays of the winter to lush greens.
Hawthorn is the first common tree to come into full leaf.
However, it is beaten to flowering by the Blackthorn (sloe) which
blooms usually at the end of March, beginning of April.
Keep an eye out
for Lady’s smock (cuckoo flower). You can see it’s pink flowers in
the damp grassy areas of the marsh, especially over in the deer
park. It is the larval plant of the orange tip butterfly. The two
warm weeks at the end of March started the emergence of many
butterflies from winter hibernation. Several peacocks and red
admirals were seen.
We are waiting for
the arrival of our spring migrant birds. They have spent the winter
in warmer parts of the world. Chiffchaffs and willow warblers are
the first to arrive, these two birds look very similar but have
quite different songs.
The first swallow, we hope, will arrive during the first week in
April, last year one was seen on April 8th. If you do spot one
please let one of the Rangers know.
It’s a busy time for nesting birds. Blackbirds and song thrushes
lay their first clutch of eggs in low scrub.
This year we have a TV link to a bird box that has a small
camera in it. We hope to be able to watch the goings on within a
nest.
So far the box hasn’t had any visitors yet… we live in
hope!!
As soon as we have success the TV link will be in the shop for
you to watch.
The Pere David
deer are giving birth to their calves at the moment. We hope to
have up to 10 new additions this year! April is the month that the
fallow and red deer males shed their antlers. Each year they grow a
bigger and more impressive set. The antlers don’t always fall off
at the same time, one may fall followed by the next several days
later. This is why you may see deer with just one antler!
Fox and badger cubs are ready to emerge from their homes at
dusk. They spend time exploring and playing with their
littermates.
Sweet vernal grass Anthoxanthum odoratum, which has a wonderful
smell of new-mown grass when crushed and makes intensely fragrant
hay, is one of the first grasses to flower in spring. If you look
closely, you'll notice that the flower spike changes sex during
development. White, feathery stigmas (female) emerge first,
followed by purple, dangling stamens (male) after the stigmas
wither. This mechanism, called protogyny, encourages
cross-pollination between plants, rather than self-pollination.
ST MARK'S-FLIES, Bibio marci, gather in their dangling dance
groups in sunny sheltered gaps in the hawthorn hedges. The males
perform their up-and-down flights around St Mark's Day, 25th April.
The young stages live in the soil or amongst rotting
vegitation.Keep a watch for these distinctive flies
Down in the gardens….
April is the time for the Cherry Walk. What a spectacular sight.
The trees burst into blossom with small pink flowers.
Bring your cameras along and get a snap!!