Monday 18 April 2016

The Colours of Spring

Colinton Dell is flowing with lesser celandines at the moment, some areas are carpeted

and there are little clumps of them everywhere, they're so pretty specially in the full sun

The first bluebells are also out

and the wood anemones were awake today

All these flowers seem to be spreading through the Dells, though the anemones are only in one patch, it is extending in size.

Wild leek is also in bloom now and also spreading, sadly at the expense of wild garlic (ramsons) though the leek is pretty and probably fulfils a similar ecological niche (it can be eaten just like wild garlic too)

 The larch flowers are maturing nicely on my favourite larch tree (though some other larches are not yet flowering), some are still the beautiful red colour they have when they are first fully formed, some are becoming more purplish. It was very difficult to photograph the larch today as it was quite windy and the branches wouldn't keep still. This photo shows a flower with a fully matured cone from probably a couple of years ago (this seems to me an unusually large cone)

Lots of birds around as ever, I was amazed how many bullfinches there seemed to be. I've seen more of this species than normal over this past winter and it looks like several pairs may now be thinking about breeding in the Dells.

6 comments:

eileeninmd said...

Hello, I love the spring blooms and to hear the birds singing. Grea tpost and lovely photos.

Happy Monday, enjoy your new week ahead!

Janneke said...

Celandines, I even have them in the garden, love it. It's so nice to see the spring flowers emerging, nature is most beautiful at this time of year.
Have a nice week!

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

The larch flowers are gorgeous, not smething I'd ever see here though. Must head to Willow Holt, where we have Ramson carpets

Magyar said...

__Well seen Juliet, neat. _m

shivers end
closer suns bloom the larch
narrow path

__As the new green growth thrives, it narrows the pathway

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

I didn't even know that larch trees had flowers - they're beautiful. Looks like a wonderful spring!

Lynn said...

I love wildflowers the most. So beautiful.