Nature Diary April 2012

April 1- 7th

April has taken the heat out of things in a very concerted way, but coinciding with the children's holidays, the cold weather is something of a godsend for my work, since it is almost certain that the kids who twice set fire and disrupted the hide would do it again.

In among the cold and rainy conditions, notably on Good Friday, a range of true spring emergent butterflies took to the wing in and around the clearing.

Speckled Wood
Orange Tip
Small White
Comma

Among the nesting birds, the long tailed tits that built in February had a rude shock when the council set about decimating the bramble growth, but they still managed a brood. Not so the nearby chaffinche's nest, that like so many other birds this disastrous spring, was a washout - with all hands foundering in the deluge.