Looking out of the Visitor Centre window this week something caught my eye. On closer inspection it turned out to be a little clump of snowdrops that had finally woke from their winter slumber. It is often called the Flower of Hope as it is one of the first flowers to bloom signifying winter is coming to an end and warmer weather is coming.
Wandering along the footpath towards Ferry I came across more promise of the changing seasons in the form of a hazel tree with its ‘lambs tails’ waving in the breeze. These catkins are the male flowers and release their pollen on the wind.
Looking closer I find the tiny crimson female flowers looking like miniscule sea anemones. These female flowers need the pollen of male flowers from another tree to fertilise the seeds and develop into hazelnuts by September.
On the ivy a honeybee is resting in the sunshine. The rising temperatures and sunlight have drawn her (all worker honeybees are female) out in search of pollen and nectar. Another bee comes buzzing by. This time it’s a queen buff-tailed bumblebee, the sole survivor of last year’s colony. She has been hibernating through winter and is one of our first insects to emerge. I follow her flight up into the branches of a goat willow. The goat willow is also known as ‘pussy willow’ because when its catkins emerge they are soft and furry like little cats paws.
Now they are ripening, opening into an array of yellow flowers which the bumblebee is now busily moving amongst. She will collect pollen and nectar before seeking a quiet little hollow or abandoned mouse-hole to start a new colony.
Meanwhile the blue tits and great tits are checking out the nest boxes around our Visitor Centre. Winter is waning; spring is waiting in the wings ready to take centre stage.