Searching for Spring
15th February 2024
Today I'm looking for signs of Spring. Rumour has it that it might be hiding somewhere in the woods, grassland and ponds of Wilderness Wood.
Checking out the new Forestry Building I'm pleased to see that the workforce has fixed the roof in place and they can now comfortably start the framework for the next new build, out of the rain.
The near completed Forestry Building - what other spring changes can we discover?
A planking machine is filling the air with the sound of industry, busy creating planks from our own sweet chestnut. The bark-laden off-cuts are perfect for hiding some of the less attractive corners of the building, nothing is wasted. At the very least waste wood will fire our wood burning stoves and the saw dust sold to anyone looking for rabbit or hamster bedding.
A quick look in the conifer and beech areas of the plantation next to the wood yard suggests my optimism regarding spring is not well founded. The only greens to be seen here are moss on the occasional tree stump and the odd twig of western red cedar shaken loose by the recent high winds.
Not much sign of spring under the beech canopy
I head down to Orchid Glade to see what might be coming through there. A few early bluebells are pushing through, to join the numerous rosettes of hardy foxgloves which graced the woodland floor throughout the winter months. A Forest of mosses forms a miniature stand of Toytown conifers. Wild arum pushes up also, adopting the green shapes of fluted ice-cream cornets.
These trees are actually made for Toy Town - 3cm tall Polytrichum moss
No sign yet of orchids - common spotted or twayblade, but the fruiting head of a Stinking Iris reveals the orange flesh surrounding the seeds, some of which are likely to germinate as the woodland soil warms.
A tiny wood violet plant promises the potential for carpets of these gorgeous purple gems, if not this year then in future ones.
My initial optimism is becoming slightly more muted as I enter the Christmas Tree Field to see what it has to offer by way of spring.
Here too the odd bluebell is erupting into the February sunshine. The exposed wood of a seasonally felled Christmas tree exudes sticky sap. This is an indication of new life, as the roots of the tree attempt to induce fresh growth, alas in vain in this instance. Felled Christmas trees are ‘just for Christmas and not for life’, if felled. Still it forms a very useful crop, funding other more sustainable activities on site.
Down the Cross Ride I stumble across the twisted stem of Woodbine (thankfully not a discarded packet of fags, but Honeysuckle twining it's ascent up the regrowth from a recently coppiced sweet chestnut stool).
I pause briefly where the Wilderness Stream is in full spate, casting some doubt on my suggestions that it will be a dried up channel by May. Here is where I hope to create more ponds - small ones dug by hand behind one of the existing leaky dams. I decide to experiment a little and dig out sediment trapped by the dam and build-up an earth barrier against it, just to see what impact it has on water movement. I'm hoping frogs will find it and add their spawn to any resultant pond. For my pains I am rewarded with a bramble slashed finger. All in a day's work, but the folly is all mine since I have protective gloves in my pocket. More irritatingly I also have a tiny spine in the end of my thumb. The cut will not be noticed by this evening, but I can expect a reminder of my stupidity for a week, from one of its many smalls spine.
Adding excavated material to the leaky dam may hold water longer and encourage frog spawn.
Near Dan’s new bridge I stumble across a young family frolicking in the spring sunshine. Who wouldn’t on a gorgeous day like this in Wilderness Wood? They are playing hide and seek, but alas one of the children has yet to grasp the concept of hiding and stands not 2 metres from the counting child. It is a very brief game.
Down at the new ponds I am delighted to discover that frogs have deposited masses of spawn in the upper of them. It was here last summer that I recorded a young froglet emerging. Perhaps she and others have returned to this much favoured location to repeat the cycle of life. I'm equally delighted to find similar activity in the lower pond, where great cauliflower masses of jelly quivver in the deep, each with a small black embryo within.
A quivering mass of frog spawn has appeared in the new ponds.
A greater waterboatman is already cruising past in anticipation of a share of the spoils. It's all kicking off here. Just add water and they will come - nature red in tooth and claw!
The area of wet woodland below the ponds is turning into the swamp I had hoped it would, as the redirected Wilderness Stream breaks up into multiple channels and spills it's waters over a large expanse of woodland floor.
Here I can pick out lesser celendine; the ‘shamrock’ leaves of wood sorrel; violets and bluebells none of them in flower as yet. The increasing dampness may drive some of these species to drier ground, but what replaces them will bring fresh fascination over the coming years. It is noteworthy how much more advanced the bluebells are in the lower wood, compared to higher up. This is probably because it is just that little bit more sheltered and milder down here.
The Wilderness Stream now braids through our wet woodland saturating the soil.
Finally I spot the first flower of February, not a bloom of the woodland floor, but the male catkins of a Hazel shrub. Many are familiar with these lambs-tail catkins which sprinkle their rich burden of pollen into the spring air. Far fewer are aware of the female flower’s appearance - tiny red hairs which often appear a little later on each shrub. This mechanism may have evolved to ensure the plant does not self pollinate and ensure greater genetic variation in the offspring.
Male hazel catkin - the females are
Having discovered spring in February it is about time to do some real work, so I make my way to Bat Park where I add clips to a few more metres of rabbit fencing. I suspect spring will not only stimulate flower growth and frog spawn, but switch on the sexual appetite of buck rabbits. I’d better get the fence finished before they and their offspring chomp it to bowling green smoothness!
David Horne. Follow me on leggingroundbritain.com. Billy and Betty are intent upon walking the coast of North Wales in May, as part of our quest to walk/cycle the entire England and Wales coastline.