On the smaller of the two birches in M3, the lower buds swell and break earlier than those higher up.
The seed pods of the red campion are like pale brown, castellated cauldrons, some still with a few black seeds within.
Clearing long grass at the south east corner of M3, I found a seedling holly and a seedling ash, protected under the herbage from the rabbit attack so prevalent elsewhere.
It shows how matted winter grass can give early protection to tree seedlings that might later find shelter under brambles and eventually be able to grow to their full height.
The holly above looks as though it might be Highclere holly, Ilex x altaclerensis, a common garden escape and with flatter leaves than the native British holly, Ilex aquifolium, in the picture below. Note the rabbit-bitten stubs of the leading shoots.
