April expedition

 Our April expedition took place on a disappointingly cold day with a sharp wind. It was, therefore, inevitable that we would see very few bees and butterflies. We did, however, photograph two bumblebees (Bombus lucorum) during the event. 

There’s always something to enjoy and we had time to examine flowers.

1. Lady’s Smock (sometimes called Cuckoo Flower) is a larval food-plant for the Orange-tip and Green-veined White butterflies. Members of the group pointed out that some of the flowers are white, while others are lilac pink — both are attractive to the butterflies.
   

 

2. Dandelion is a good plant for early pollinators. We blew some dandelion clocks and marvelled at the ease with which the dandelion spreads its seeds.

3. Marsh Marigold is another bright yellow plant and grows at the edge of the water.
   

All plants have Latin names and these make them recognisable across the world:

• Lady’s Smock is Cardamine pratensis (showing that it grows in meadows);
• Marsh Marigold is Caltha palustris (showing that it grows in marshy ground);
• Dandelion is Taraxacum officinale (indicating its traditional use in herbal medicine).

It’s not necessary to remember these names but with a little understanding interesting connections can be made.

We also looked at trees along our route:

1.                  a row of conifers, much loved by the seed-eating goldfinches;

2.                  willow, which with early flowers full of pollen is great for insects and other invertebrates (creatures without a backbone);

3.                  hawthorn, which is good for May blossom and in autumn has red haws popular with some birds;

4.                  elder, which has June blossoms and berries in autumn;

5.                  ash, which we identified as suitable trees for bird-nesting boxes as there was a lot of birdsong — we spotted robins, chaffinches, blue tits, blackbirds and a song thrush.

 

 Date: 30 April 2016 Time: 12-1

Attendance: 27 (including 14 children)

What we observed and talked about —

Bees: Bombus lucorum

Birds: Blackbird, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Robin, Song Thrush

Flowers: Marsh Marigold, Dandelion, Nettle, Lady’s Smock

Plants: bramble, ivy

Trees: birch, elder, hawthorn, willow