Spring at last...

My predictions about the Hawthorn ( coming out around Old May Day , the 13th ) were slightly over optimistic : it is only just starting on a couple of trees.
Next week , if the weather holds,  we should have a massive display.

I've been out and about with the camera , so here are a few heartening pics.

The Blackthorn/Sloe :~



Cowslips:~



Crabapple:~

 

Greater Celandine , at the Old Churchyard :~



Not related to the Lesser Celandine, but a sort of cabbage , with a remarkable
vivid yellow sap that looks as though it could be used for painting or dyeing.
Poisonous.
Another Cabbage/Mustard ( there are an awful lot of those and most of them live in Bish ) ,
the Wild Radish :~



Living on the edge of a field of Rape :~




Dandelion : if these were a rare exotic , everyone would have them in the garden.
We have them anyway as our commonest weed , but look again.



Otherwise , the birds are the most obvious Spring sign.
Swifts are back, the Whitethroat curses disapproval from the hedge , and last week I watched a Curlew performing a display flight, trilling all the while, on the Ings near Acaster Malbis.

Just one Kingfisher this week , but I just had a report that they are nesting north of the palace.
No more sightings of the seal reported.

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We have to face the truth that Bishopthorpe is quite unremarkable in terms of its Wildlife ,
and apart from the Ouse itself , the drain along the middle of the Ings really is our most interesting area.
It runs for about 900 yards from the campsite to the Old Bridge .

There are one or two interesting plants, like the Amhibious Bistort and Marsh Marigolds,
Watervoles , and the Amphibians of course.
This week Harblow reported watching Sticklebacks , so I went and investigated :
sure enough,a very brief view , but not as good as this .



He was lucky enough to see some mating behaviour he described as a display " dance " by a brightly-coloured male.
It was probably fanning the eggs in its nest in a scrape on the bottom ,
since the males do all the brooding of the eggs.

I saw Sticklebacks there very clearly some years ago, but at present there is so much scum on the surface that it's very hard to find any clear water to observe.

I worry about threats to this drain : the last 100 yards before the bridge are obviously dead,
presumably poisoned by runoff from the houses above : a couple of big concrete drains enter in this stretch.This section is also heavily shaded .
And now, at the other end , one of the adjacent fields nearer the boatyard has been cleared,
for what reason I don't know yet , just at the point where the watervoles have most often been seen.Too much disturbance here could be bad .

Parts of the drain could perhaps do with a little excavation to improve the flow, since they are completely choked... not that the wildlife minds that much , just adapts to the swamp.
But it needs to be done with great care for the habitat and what little wildlife it does contain.
We don't have much to be proud of here : we must take great care of what little we have .

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Just for fun , a nice pic from John in Stamford Bridge :
This Wood Mouse was attempting to excavate her nest under his back step : ~