20th April 2020

Sunny but with a cool and strong easterly blowing. The speckled woods seemed to have calmed down a bit but were still enjoying the Green Sanctuary as a sunny glade. The red admiral also put in a brief appearance.

After the flowers have faded on the dandelions their stalks lie flat, or almost flat, on the ground while the seeds develop within the tightly folded bracts then when they are ready they rise up to present the dandelion down to the wind. The first of these dandelion clocks appeared today on the far east of M3 by Troy Track.

There was a resumed fall of male birch catkins and I saw the orange underside of a flying dock bug for the first time this year.  I took a photo of the birch tree a few days ago to show its impressive curtain of hanging catkins. I noticed then that the trunk divides into two towards the top of the tree and think this may mean it has grown as tall as it can and now intends to spread outwards.  We shall see.

I have been watching the willow herb plants develop. We have two or three of the so-called weedy species and they seem immune to any sort of attack by animals or microfungi. I must investigate.