March 2014: Village Road

Trees and flowers

With the arrival of Spring, and for this first post, we focus on Village Road, beginning at the corner with Bond’s Lane.  The open land here was once Bond’s Farm, which burned down in 1860 and was never rebuilt.  Fragments of old wall can still be seen on the side of the hedge facing the road. This area now belongs to the Parish Council, and a variety of trees were planted here about five years ago.

One of these is a very beautiful, early flowering Prunus Kursar (a variety of Japanese cherry), which is putting on a wonderful display of deep pink flowers.  Nearby a wild Prunus has tiny wild flowers which contrast dramatically with its darker bark.  On a sunny morning. both trees were absolutely humming with worker bees.

Prunus Kursar, below with wild Prunus behind

Flowers of Prunus Kursar  (above) and wild Prunus (below)

Elsewhere along Village Road (as in all our lanes) hazel catkins have been visible for several weeks in hedges, and overhanging the brook along the Plantation in the centre of the village - although many are now going over (the darker coloured ones).  The long pendulous catkins are male flower heads and are a crucial food for early foraging bees.  The female flowers are much harder to see: little lumps like leaf buds on the branch, with crimson tentacles.

Hazel catkins (above and below)

At the time of writing, the last of the snowdrops are still open.  Sometimes known as ‘fair maids of February’, they were introduced into England by the Romans and have become wild in the West Country.    

Snowdrops

The flowers of the moment are now the distinctive yellow Lesser Celandine – in profusion in the Plantation and along the roadsides – and primroses.

Sarah Raven (in her book Wild Flowers) describes the lesser celandine as the ‘buttercup of spring’.  “Its leaves are elegant, like a shiny, bright green version of a cyclamen leaf....  Because it is everywhere, in great numbers, it may be under-appreciated.  This is a shame because it is friendly, sunny and simple, with pure-yellow insides to its flowers, washed green or bronze on the outer surface.  Lesser celandine is an invaluable early season source of pollen and nectar for many insects.”  Unpopular with gardeners because of its ability to spread quickly, carpets of it are nevertheless a spectacular sight at the end of winter.

Lesser celandine

Primroses (Prima Rosa) are a sure sign of spring.  Their scent is sweet and violet-like, drawing in pollinators, both bees and butterflies.  A good group is in a corner of the churchyard, by the brook.

Primrose

In the Plantation there is also a vivid display of crocuses.  These are very well-established garden flowers first planted in 1986 by the then Woodbury Salterton Society.  This piece of land, together with the well, was donated to the village by Miss Marianne Pidsley (1805-46) who lived at Greendale and was a great benefactor, amongst other things founding the church and school.

Crocuses - in profusion in the Plantation (below)

Far less spectacular but almost as prolific is the Red Dead-nettle, an important early food source for bees which will now be in flower through till next winter.

Red Dead-Nettle (above and below)

Birds

In the spring, the birds are transformed by bright colours to mark the start of the breeding and nesting season.  The blackbird offers a good example, with intensely black plumage and vivid yellow-orange bill.  The increasing  volume of birdsong is another sign of the season – when it serves to attract a mate and to define territory.  A tree-top, high branch, roof ridge or gable-end are favourite song-post sites.  An hour or so before sunset on a fine, warm evening is a good time to hear the evening chorus.  Species in good voice at present are:-  robin, blackbird, song-thrush, chaffinch, goldfinch, dunnock (hedge-sparrow), and great tit.  A distinctive sound of spring is the drumming of greater-spotted woodpeckers on resonant dead wood and is, it is believed, part of a courtship display.

Good audio clips of all of these can be found at http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name

Dunnock (hedge sparrow), for instance, is a very quiet and unobtrusive bird that is hard to spot.  Small, and brown and grey, it is often seen on its own, creeping along the edge of a flower bed or near to a bush, moving with a rather nervous, shuffling gait, often flicking its wings as it goes.  You may have heard its song, without recognising it:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/d/dunnock/index.aspx

The winter visitor and passage migrant the fieldfare is still around in small flocks, before its departure for the north.