Hurrah! We are officially in Spring, and nature has decided it is too. Maybe not the weather, but you can’t have everything!
Last week, I went for a lovely walk. It was a fabulous way of blowing away the cobwebs. I visited the local bluebell wood and it was gorgeous. The leaves in the canopy were just emerging; a fresh, lime green, but not yet fully unfurled, so the sunlight streamed down onto the woodland floor.
That sunlight bathed the bluebells on the floor. English Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) are one of Britain’s success stories; our ancient woodlands are a stronghold of the species and are an absolute sensory delight if you are lucky enough to be near a bluebell wood.
Closing the creaky gate and walking down the little bank, the woodland floor opened into a sea of lilac-y blue and I was greeted by the sound of birds who have travelled thousands of miles to be in this very wood. Blackcaps, Willow Warblers with their gorgeous songs (a sure sign of spring) are a tonic to the blues. You can just about see fluffy white clouds and the blue sky through the expanding canopy.
I recently bought a fairly cheap clip on macro lens for the camera on my phone – and WOW, what a different perspective it gives. I found a little gathering of Wood Anemones, their brief flowering period nearly spent, and the detail that came up on the photos, they have delicate white flowers, but with the macro lens, they are almost translucent, with spider’s web like veins lacing through the petals. Further into the wood, there were the recognisable bright flashes of Lesser Celandine, they are so yellow, they brighten up the dark woodland floor like little fireworks. Further into the wood, I came across a bed of Ramsons, also known as Wild Garlic. I harvested a few leaves to make pesto when I got home.
Have you been on any woodland walks lately? What treasures have you found?
Charlotte
xxx
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