Spring 2024 has no doubt been a tough one for all, nature and wildlife included. The cold and wet weather appearing throughout has made for a unique few months, that has often felt more like a continuation of the winter passed. Despite this, spring took its time to unfurl as in the last couple of years, and had lots to offer.
When it comes to nature, whatever is going on, it continues to provide moments of calm, vibrancy and adventure. This has been apparent more than ever as I venture out with my camera or simply with my phone at hand. Here are just some of the many photos I have taken this spring.
Spring In Photos 2024
Butterfly On Blossom
It’s Tiring Being A Tawny chick!
Shimmering Like GoldIn The SpotlightThe Rook To My RavenFocussing On The Little Things Sparkling In The DarkFlying High As A Kite
Beautiful In Blue
Love On The Water
Brooding Like A Blue Tit
A Speckled Beauty
Disclaimer: All birds were handled or observed under rules, with care, and by a trained bird ringer. The welfare of animals always comes first!
For the last couple of years I have accompanied the 12 Days of Christmas, up to Twelfth Night, with my own 12 Days of Laura’s Wild Photos. On these 12 days I share one photo a day on my social media platforms from the collection of photos that I have taken over the proceeding year out in nature with my camera, camera trap or phone. With these photos I aim to share glimpses of the beauty of nature, share some of my favourites from the year that have yet to take centre stage, and to simply put a smile on people’s faces.
This last christmas I embarked on my 12 Days of Laura’s Wild Photos challenge once again and had a lovely response to my collection of photos with my landscape photos being the main favourites. As I look forward to more wild adventures to come in 2024, here’s my 12 Days of Laura’s Wild Photos for 2023.
12 Photos
Day 1 – I began my 12 Days with a bang on Christmas Day as this photo of a snowy woods in misty sunlight ended up being the most popular photo of the 12 days. It’s a family favourite and was also described as ‘could be a painting’ which I was extremely happy to hear. Maybe it has a future beyond these 12 days!
Day 2 – For the second day, I wanted to share 2 classics of spring combined in one photo: a Chiffchaff and Blackthorn. A season of hope, joy and new beginnings, spring is my favourite time to get out with a camera and this photo captures that start when the landscape is just coming back to life.
Day 3 – As I continued on through the days, day 3 had been a very stormy one in the UK, thanks to Storm Gerrit, and so I wanted to bring some warmth to people’s homes. Here is suckler calf Blueberry Muffin, who in January last year, was still living outside with her mother as the ground had stayed drier than this winter!
Day 4 – Drawing our focus down to the ground, this photo takes us back to the days of spring with lush woodlands and glades with soft light filtering through unfurling leaves. A sign of ancient woodland, the wood anemone is also said to bring good luck!
Day 5 – This year I was licensed for the first time to handle and ring Barn Owl chicks on my own, as part of the vital work going on to conserve protected Barn Owls in Dorset and further afield, including on Dorset County Council farms. Some very special moments were had this year and lots still to be learnt! (Disclaimer: Barn Owl Chicks were handled following specific protocols by trained ringers and under a Schedule 1 license)
Day 6 – When we are in the clutches of winter and the landscape is bare, the snowdrop is a wonderful symbol of theend of winter to come, creating carpets of pure white wherever you go. It will not be long now until the first white heads can be seen nodding in the wind once again, and a feeling of hope and strength will return.
Day 7 – The 7th day marked the arrival of New Year’s Eve and the ending of another year. I thought this photo of a magnificent oak tree resplendent in its skeletal form in front of a warm winter sunset was a perfect way to match the feeling of the light falling on 2023.
Day 8 – This year I finally bought my first super telephoto lens and so to practise I made use of our very last baby lambs born in spring 2023. It is a wonderful sight to now see subjects up close through a lens without having to be really close. Here’s to more fun in 2024!
Day 9 – For the 9th day of my challenge, I decided to focus on the effectiveness of simple photos. My example is a photo from last year when soft winter sunshine could be seen glistening off cobwebs completely blanketing a field. A quite simple and spectacular phenomenon!
Day 10 – I got to experience lots of fantastic wildlife during 2023 with my two camera traps, and one highlight species was definitely the fox. Here is the first glimpse I got of a family foxes with four very young cubs,that I went on to watch grow up to become independent themselves. Fantastic! (For more check out my blog post Spring Dorset Camera Trapping Part 2.: Fabulous Foxes).
Day 11 – For my penultiate day, I picked this photo as I enjoy how the light delicately falls through this hazel leaf, highlighting the veins stretching out across its surface. Thus, I look forward to the return of green leaves when spring rolls roundonce again.
Day 12 – For my finale, I decided to head back into the woodlands during late spring. Under boughs of hazel here, alone early purple orchid can be found standing watch over a well trodden animal track, calling the observer deeper into the trees.
For now it is time to look to the present and to make the most of the winter months still to come!
This year the Spring Equinox occurred on the 20th March, marking the point when the sun sat directly over the Earth’s equator heading northward, alongside the start of a new season, in our case spring. With spring comes longer day lengths, milder temperatures, regrowth, new beginnings, and the literal ‘springing’ of plants from the ground. After tough winters and a period of dormancy for nature, the sights of spring understandably lift spirits and create hope and joy.
As we look ahead to spring and what it means to us all, people will also be looking for the first signs of its arrival to tell them the season is upon us. With an increase in activity within nature, these signs can differ for different people, with examples including the first snowdrops, mammals coming out of hibernation, or even birds such as Rooks beginning to nest. For Emma, my Rural vs Urban blog series co-writer (check it out!), her first signs of spring in Manchester are as follows:
Signs of spring in Manchester, as typed from the tram on a lovely spring day: sunshine reflected off the sides of the glass buildings, daffodils and crocuses bravely making an appearance on the grass banks, seeing the first few Manchester bees buzzing about, thinking that it’s warm enough to leave the house without a coat then realising you made a mistake when it pours down with rain later in the day, and sitting outside at the pub!
Though we may all have our own personal favourites, there are some popular first signs of spring that can easily be looked for in anyone’s local area across Britain. Why not try to find them all yourself?
1. Hazel Catkins
Hazel is one of the first of our native species to flower at the start of the year, bringing real colour and joy to the still wintery landscape
Latin Name: Corylus avellana
Name: Catkin refers to long cylindrical clusters of small flowers
When to See: January to April
Where to See: Woodlands, scrub areas and hedgerows
Identifying Features: Lemon-yellow with pollen when open, and shaped like a lambstail, hanging in clusters from hazel branches
Range: Widespread throughout Britain
2. Yellow Flowers
After a cold and grey winter, nothing raises the spirit like the blooming of sunshine yellow flowers in the landscape, a symbol of rebirth and new beginnings
When to See: Daffodils= February to May; celandines= March to May; primroses= February to May; cowslips= April to May
Where to See: Daffodils= gardens, parks and woodlands; celandines= woodland, grassland and gardens; primroses= woodland, hedgerows, and gardens; cowslips= grassland, woodland and hedgerows
Identifying Features: Daffodils= inner trumpet shape with a crown of petals; celandines= shiny yellow stars; primroses= rosettes of pale petals with darker centres; cowslips= bell-shaped within a green casing
3. Frogspawn
A symbol of spring that captures the imagination from a young age with its strange and sudden appearance early each spring
What is it?: The eggs are most commonly laid by the common frog (Rana temporaria)
When to See: Mainly February to March
Where to See: Just below the surface of ponds and streams
Identifying Features: Floating clumps of jelly that are made up of lots of small jelly eggs with a black dot or developing tadpole at their centres
Range: Widespread across Britain but more likely to be seen in certain areas
4. Buzzing Bees
The sound of queen bees buzzing lazily around in warm sunshine is a real sound of spring, symbolising new life to come
When to See: Buff-tailed= February to October; red-tailed= mainly March to August; tree= mainly March to July; white-tailed= March to October
Where to See: All can be seen in a wide range of habitats from woodland and farmland to gardens and heathland
Identifying Features: Buff-tailed= yellow collar near head and another on abdomen with queens having buff ‘tails’ and workers white with buff line above; red-tailed= black with red ‘tails’ with males having two yellow bands on thorax and one at base of abdomen; tree= ginger-brown thorax and black abdomen with white tail; white-tailed= black with two lemon-yellow bands on body and white ‘tail’
5. Chiffchaff
This tiny little bird is one of the earliest birds to arrive from warmer winter climes, and sing its heart out, heralding the start of spring
Latin Name:Phylloscopus collybita
Name: Named after its distinctive ‘chiff chaff chiff chaff’ song
When to See: Some winter in the UK, but can be heard singing from March to October when migrants return
Where to See: Woodland, scrubland, parks and gardens
Identifying Features: Green or dusky olive; short pale eye stripe; moderately dark eye stripe; dark legs; fine often dark bill; continuous tail-flicking movement; distinctive song
Range: Widespread across Britain, apart from more mountainous areas of Scotland
6. Pussy Willow
Emerging early on in the year, pussy willow is a real symbol of the beginnings of spring, and is often used as decorations at Easter
Latin Name:Salix caprea but also could refer to Salix cinerea
Name: Pussy willow is a colloquial name for goat willow, but is now often used for grey willow too. This is due to their furry male catkins looking like the soft, furry paws of a cat
When to See: February to April
Where to See: Woodland, hedgerows, scrub and damper, more open ground
Identifying Features: The more noticeable male flowers are the silver-grey, fluffy, and oval catkins standing upright from willow branches. They turn yellow when covered with pollen
Range: Widespread across Britain
7. Brimstone Butterfly
Though warmer, milder weather leads to the emerging of different butterfly species, the first brimstone butterfly is often the first species seen and its warm colour has connotations of sunshine and cheerfulness
Latin Name:Gonepteryx rhamni
Name: Brimstone is the old name for sulphur, which is the colour of the male butterfly’s wings
When to See: March onwards
Where to See: Can be seen in a wide variety of habitats, but the larval foodplants are alder buckthorn and buckthorn which is more scarcely distributed
Identifying Features: Veined wings with pale-yellow undersides and an orange dot on each wing. The uppersides are sulphurous yellow on males and paler on females
Range: Common in England and Wales, less common in Ireland, and very rare in Scotland
8. Spring Blossom
Everyone knows that spring is truly underway when blossom starts to coat trees and hedgerows in spectacular pastel fashion. It is a real spirit lifter after a long winter!
When to See: Blackthorn= March to April; wild cherry= April to May; hawthorn= April to June
Where to See: Blackthorn= hedgerows, woodland margins and scrubland; wild cherry= woodlands, gardens and hedgerows; hawthorn= hedgerows, woodland margins and scrubland
Identifying Features: Blackthorn= flowers white with 5 petals and red-tipped anthers; wild cherry= white flowers cup-shaped and with 5 petals; hawthorn= white flowers with 5 petals, pink or purple anthers and sickly sweet scent
9. Barn Swallow
This iconic bird makes a 6000 mile migration from Africa to breed in the UK, arriving with warmer weather and active exploration of potential nest sites
Latin Name:Hirundo rustica
Name: Barn comes from typically nesting in barns and out-houses, and the latin Hirundo means swallow
When to See: March to October
Where to See: Open country, perching on wires, and hunting low over grassland or water
Identifying Features: Blue-black; red forehead and throat; dark throat; long, pointed wings; deeply forked tail; agile flight
Range: Widespread across Britain
10. Common Bluebell
Over half of the world’s population of bluebells can be found in the UK, making for some incredible spring spectacles across Britain
Latin Name:Hyacinthoides non-scriptus
Name: Named for their distinctive flowers
When to See: March to June
Where to See: Carpeting woodlands, hedgerows, scrubland, on sea-cliffs and mountains
Identifying Features: Long, narrow green leaves; purple-blue bell-shaped flowers hanging from long stems; strong sweet scent
Spring this year has been a joyful and colourful experience. In 2020, spring was a lifeline during lockdown. In 2021, spring was a turbulent and unpredictable season, with some real wonderous moments to behold. This year though, I have simply enjoyed every moment that spring had to offer, watching as the season swelled into being and slipped out once again with the heat of the summer sun.
This spring the season began slower, but reached its peak quickly once it got going. In Dorset, from blossom and bursting leaves to nesting birds and breeding mammals, spring bloomed spectacularly, with so much new life on offer. During this time I made lots of adventures out with my camera and took many, many photos. Here are just a few of my favourites from spring 2022.
Spring 2022: In Photos
Sunset Damson Blossom – This year the blossom of fruiting trees was fantastic. Our damson tree blossomed without being bitten by frost or hit by strong winds, so hopefully it will be a good year for damsons
Lambing at Home – My mum has her own mini flock of Lleyn ewes, a Lleyn ram, and a Charolais ram, and for us spring would not be spring without lambs springing around the fields!
Horse Chestnut Flowers – Often tree flowers are simple, green and unassuming, but not those of horse chestnut trees. Horse chestnut flowers form a candelabra of fantastic white flowers with dots of pink and yellow, towering high in the boughs of the trees
Woodland Minibeasts – This year during the bluebell bloom, I focused on exploring the hidden life amongst the bluebells (check out my previous post for more). One of my finds during my hunts was this fly which looks to be a St. Mark’s fly. This fly gets its name due to emerging around St. Mark’s Day in April each year
Oak Flowers – Though horse chestnut flowers are showy, some tree flowers are fantastic in a subtler way. The flowers of English oak trees hang down in green streamers from their branches, looking pretty swaying softly in gentle spring breezes
Up Close With Stitchwort Flowers – Stitchwort flowers or ‘Shirt-buttons’ are white stars spotting the countryside throughout spring. Taking a closer look, this particular flower looks weird and wonderful with stamens that curl around each other
Super Snail – This white-lipped snail is a simple, but colourful individual amongst the green of spring. Their swirling shells are a great subject to photograph
Wild Cherry Blossom – Every year one of my favourite flowering trees is the Wild Cherry. There’s nothing like banches covered in blankets of white set against a bright green backdrop of new leaves
Fabulous First Frogspawn – In 2020, we started digging a pond in our own mini nature reserve at home on our farm. This year we were excited to find our very first frogspawn! It was amazing to watch the tadpoles change and transform over time
1 O’Clock, 2 O’Clock,Dandelion Clock – All children find magic and wonderment in dandelion clocks and their parachute seeds. Even as an adult I still find inspiration in their fragile globe-like forms
Majestic Beasts – My mum has her own herd of beef cross suckler cows and an Aberdeen angus bull that are free range and raise their own calves. We especially enjoy watching the calves grow up and grow into themselves over their very first year of life
Apple Blossom – As a family we have always enjoyed growing and foraging for our own food in our local area. Though last year was not a very good year for fruit, this year looks to be a better year, apples included
Woodland Spider – Just like the St. Mark’s fly, whilst exploring a woodland of bluebells, I found this species of orb-weaver spider. The bluebells were home to many, many of these little arachnids all weaving their webs between flowers, waiting to catch a meal
Beautiful Blackthorn Blossom – Every year one of my favourite parts of spring is blackthorn. The snow white flowers of blackthorn winter bring colour to the landscape at a time when things are still grey and spring is only just trickling in
Portland Pets – This year I spent some time photographing my neighbour’s pedigree Portland flock. These small sheep, topped off with curling horns, have a great character and warm colour to them which make it a joy to take their portraits again and again
‘There is no time like Spring, When life’s alive in everything… Before the sun has power, To scorch the world up in his noontide hour’ – Christina Rossetti
Where for me Winter is a grey, bleak, and quiet time, Spring is the opposite. Those first Snowdrops of January whisper of the season to come, leading the way ahead for new life to follow. This opens the door for change and the blossoming of Spring. A vibrant season, Spring arrives with an explosion of colour, awe-inspiring after tough Winter months. Yellows, pinks, purples, blues, and whites, amongst others, paint a landscape of reviving green. It is a magical time!
This year has been no different, with Spring unfurling in style, though with some added meteorological unpredictability. Right now though, woodlands are carpeted with the purple hues of Bluebells, pastel blossom drips from fruiting trees, and leaves begin to envelop trees and hedgerows. It is a time to be enjoyed and relished after another tough Winter, with promise now of more new life as this season continues. Let us now celebrate the blooming of Spring 2022 so far.
Laura's Wild World 