It was very pleasant today with the temperature in the high teens. Certainly the parking at Hoppinpunt was very full and people were walking dogs, running/jogging and groups of cyclists whizzed by regularly on the main thoroughfares. The sooner off the cycled track the better. You can see above the first of the spring flowers emerging, the Wood anenome, Anemonoides nemorosa. These plants take advantage of the lack of tree canopy to flower and provide early nectar for the insects. The wood anemone is named after Anemos, the Greek wind god who sent the anenomes to proclaim the arrival of spring. Another common name is the Windflower.
Another member of the vast Buttercup family, Ranunculaceae is the Lesser celendine, Ficaria verna. It too is important food for insects and providing cover for rodents such as the Wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus which if you're quiet enough can sometimes betray its presence by little movements in the undergrowth. The Wood mouse eats a wide variety of foods, including fungi, berries, seeds, nuts and insects and has a lifespan of a year. It is this varied diet which helps it survive.
The Nuthatch, Sitta europaea was much in evidence, not that you can see it easily. However, it is easily
identified by its call, which is often an insistent 'dweep, dweep' but it has other variations. Have a listen here. It is one of the few birds which live in the forest, away from the margins which are populated by robins, tits and chaffinches.
And finally I come to Woodpeckers. There are three species, Greater Spotted, Lesser Spotted and Green. Again they are difficult to see in the forest but you will hear their characteristic drumming as the send sound signals far and wide. It turns out that each has a particular drumming pattern, or in the case of the Green woodpecker none at all. It doesn't peck wood, at least not noisily. The Greater is much more widespread and its attacks on dead wood are a fast thrumm, lasting less than a second and tapering off a little at the end. The Lesser is slightly slower paced, but consistent, lasting a bit longer.
Next week on Sunday 16th March we will pay our respects to the oldest tree in the forest and practice agring trees by their girth. Wild garlic should scent the air. Faster growing trees generally have smoother bark and this difference is very evident between the Oak and the Beech. Full details can be found on the calendar page.