Silver birch bark
A short walk in the young woodland at the back of the house revealed some surprising sights today. We stopped to admire a silver birch, which had some beautiful colouring on its bark, when Colin noticed it had been gnawed by deer. These are roe deer – we’ve caught glimpses of them a couple of times on previous walks. There was a circle trodden in the soil at the base of the tree, where the animal had walked around it.
Signs of deer gnawing
Hawthorn leaves
We were amazed to find a hawthorn bush with many green leaves almost half out. These were a welcome sight, but surely they’re going to get nipped in the bud, especially with heavy snowfall predicted for tomorrow. We also noticed some catkins on a hazel tree, and the tips of young shoots were visible on the ends of the twigs. I felt almost as if we’d had a very long sleep and spring had arrived!
Hazel catkins
It’s all a bit too early, I fear… but time will tell, and time will also re-set their natural clock even if these trees are over-eager. I can’t really blame them, because I too am desperate for the spring to arrive.
Lichen
Talking of hazel catkins, I have been working hard on some new features for The Hazel Tree over the last few days. After a three-month ‘rest’ (when does work qualify as a rest?) it’s good to start refreshing it again. Perhaps spring really is on the way!
Fingers crossed for the birch tree. It needs a bandage round those wounds.
I hope it will recover – the danger is that the deer will return to do more damage.
You’ve cheered my heart with this post, Jo! Beautiful pictures, and I’m amazed by the hawthorn leaves, but delighted to see them. I, too, hope they haven’t burst into leaf too early but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this spell of snow is very short. It’s been snowing here all morning and it is lying but it’s quite damp and I’m hoping it turns to rain later on, although that could cause problems with ice in the morning. In any case, I’m going to have another look at your lovely photos and dream of spring.
We’ve got snow here too, Lorna – Purdey has wiped both the front and back windscreens of the car though, so we’ll be fine if we need to go out! Like you, I was very heartened to see the new leaves and I hope that this snow doesn’t last for long. It’s lovely to hear the birds singing in the mornings, too – blackbirds and robins, well before it’s light.
Great pictures, Jo. I’m amazed by those leaves. I shall keep my eyes open over the next few days to see if there are any around here.
Cheers, Alen McF
Thanks, Alen! It was pretty amazing, and all the birds are singing each morning as if it’s spring. But we’ve had an inch of snow since then – the plants are going to be very confused!
Amazing for this time of year! Here we will soon be getting into the most harsh month of winter.
That’s true. Unfortunately our seasons seem to be upside down recently, and this is just confusing the plants and wildlife. We’ve had snow since those pics were taken – I’m not sure how long it’s going to last.
I like very much the light of these photos.
I think it was a great day!
Thank you, Cornel! It was lovely to see the sunshine – we need it so much. We’ve had an inch of snow since then, and a hard frost – I’m not sure whether the leaves have survived.
Lovely photos. Our silver birches in the garden here are safe from browsing deer. I wish for you an early spring but only as long as it does not mean we won’t get a summer….so far not looking that good here.
Thank you! It’s weird how your summer is working out, particularly with the extreme temperatures and wildfires in Australia. I hope you get some proper summer weather soon.