It seems to be peak dandelion time as I write this in March. Seeing one puts a smile on my face, and when there are lots, I’m probably grinning!
This was the case when I walked to my local Co-op. I stopped to drink in some especially lovely ones, took some photos, then decided to count them on the walk back. 113 in a 3-minute stretch along the wildflower bunds that the city council created a few years ago in an inspired move. What a treat.
The photos don’t do them justice, but you can at least see the bees on some of them.
A couple of days before, I joined the Woolston Wombles for a litter pick. We’d logged it as a Great British Spring Clean event, and I worked on a verge that bugs me every time I see it, because it’s badly littered, and because underneath the plastic and cans there’s life. In the space of 5 minutes, I found a Pill Woodlouse, a Millipede, and a 7-spot Ladybird.
One morning on Peartree Green, I walked past an oak and heard a woodpecker drumming. So close! I couldn’t see the bird, but I did notice a nest hole.
Vivid green leaves are appearing everywhere, as on this hornbeam.
Bramble leaves are decorated with the mysterious scribblings of leaf miners.
And at Weston Shore, there’s a tree full of shapes. Do you see the bird with a rubber ring in its beak?!
Dandelion Nature 