Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer
I don't know about you, but there is something rather special about how the woodland floor shakes off its drab brown winter coat at this time of year. Emerging at speed is a splendid green cape of foliage hugging the trees and, like watching your favourite movie again and again, you know that the best is still to come. You may be going for your normal dog walk or weekend ramble through the woods in anticipation of the burst of colour. Well, the time is upon us. News is in from Stour Wood and Copperas Wood in Essex that the brilliant white wood anemones have made their appearance, closely followed by their side kicks the moschatel (or the town-hall-clock flower to you and me).
I may be in my thirties but I am still a bit of a closet comic book fan. Not the buying comics and keeping them in plastic bags type, but one with a love of the super powers and the different characters of superheroes and villains. I can't help but think that the names woodland flowers have are perfect superhero names. The Wood Anemone, with amazing wing man Mos-Chatel. Let us not forget impending arrivals to the party, the stunning Yellow Archangel and Blue Belle (ok give me some artistic licence on the latter).
The beauty is that these woodland characters have been around for a long time. Their ancient woodland home gives them everything they need to thrive, stable soils with no sign of previous soil disturbance. Luckily, the work of the RSPB with the support of the public means that there is still this precious habitat for them to grow. But these forest floor superheroes are only around for about a month so this is the ideal time to get down to your local wood and see what you can find.
This is exactly what some of our local volunteers did on Monday at one of our Aren't Volunteers Brilliant events in Stour Wood. Jane Delaney, Local Groups and Volunteering Support Officer, said that "the vast blanket of wood anemones was such an unexpected surprise". So follow in our lovely volunteers footsteps, shrug off your own drab winter coats and take a step out this weekend and see what woodland superheroes you can find.
For more information about what you can see in wild Essex follow this link http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/s/stourestuary/seasonal_highlights.aspx
Photo Credit: Jane Delaney (RSPB)