Flowers

Spring How It Happened In Nature 2025

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

Spring 2025 felt like an unusual spring this year, with unpredictable weather patterns and trends being hard to pinpoint. Looking back at meteorological records though, despite sudden changeable weather and some cold snaps early on, March, April, May and June were in fact on average warmer and sunnier than previous years, with wet ground drying up fast. As a result, this season felt like it went by in a flash this year and was harder to hold on to, in the present and in memory.

Spring 2024 was even more changeable in weather patterns compared to this year, but still showed some consistent phenological trends (check out Spring 2024: How It Happened). Plant species showed events occurring earlier due to warmer temperatures, whilst insect and bird species showed a split in occurrence, affected by some increased rainfall at certain periods. With spring 2025 also exhibiting some changeability, but overall warmer temperatures, I wonder how spring events played out this year. Let’s take a look at tree, flowering, shrub, insect and bird species to get a snapshot of how things turned out this year in comparison to previous years.

Trees

During 2024, spring emergence dates were on average earlier for most tree species due to warmer and wetter spring weather. In 2025 though, the trend is less easy to discern, with events ranging anywhere from 1 to 30 days earlier, 1 to 21 days later, or even the same day. The trend does not relate to month, but timing of events differed between species, with all english oak events occurring later, whilst all sycamore events occurred earlier, which may signify varying factors at play. There’s also no trend occurring with tree species between the years either, such as becoming earlier or later over time. This year’s spring did feel like the weather was highly changeable at times though, switching from warm to cold, wet to dry, and may have created small scale fluctuation from week to week, despite overall warmer weather.

Flowers

Plants flowering during spring 2024 occurred on average earlier, varying from 1 to 16 days. Following the same situation as with tree species, during spring 2025, the occurrence of plants flowering showed no true trend, with a 50:50 split between earlier or later. Primroses, cowslips, wood anemones, early purple orchids, yellow archangel, and oxeye daisies all first flowered 3-14 days earlier, whereas snowdrops, lesser celandines, daffodils, stitchwort, wild garlic, cuckooflowers, and bluebells all first flowered 5-21 days later. Like with the trees, no pattern was shown connected to month, and flowering this spring may instead also be due to fluctuating weather and temperature patterns.

Shrubs

During spring 2024, the majority of shrub events occurred earlier, ranging from 1 to 53 days. In spring 2025 though, there was more of a split. Of 18 recorded events, 10 were later than 2024, ranging from 1 to 29 days, 1 was the same day, and 7 were earlier than 2024, ranging from 4 to 20 days. Some species, such as blackthorn and elder, had all later events, but most species shared variation between budburst, leaves unfurling, and flowering. It is unsurprising that shrubs followed what was seen with other plant species though, being affected by the same factors, causing no discernable trends.

Insects

Of 10 species that had their first emergence date recorded during spring 2024, a 50:50 split was found for earlier and later dates. This year for the same 10 species though, there was a skew towards earlier emergences. For brimstone butterflies, buff-tailed bumblebees, 7-spotted ladybirds, peacock butterflies, small tortoiseshell butterflies, small white butterflies, and queen wasps, emergence ranged from 1-47 days earlier this spring. The exceptions were orange tip butterflies, red admiral butterflies, and speckled wood butterflies, emerging later by 4-32 days during April. Where plant species showed no great pattern between springs 2024 and 2025, these insect species recorded do show more earlier emergences, with on average warmer weather allowing this to occur.

Birds

Over the last three years of recording bird events during spring, no clear trend was observed between years for the bird species that were recorded. For spring 2025 though, the events recorded were shown to have occurred on the same day as in 2024, or 1 to 26 days earlier. For example, cuckoos were heard earlier during April, and juvenile blackbirds were seen earlier, fledging during April. It is really interesting that where this year plant events were occurring all over the place compared to during previous years, bird species were responding earlier to spring conditions. This could be due to weather conditions being on average milder, whilst food sources were also made available earlier during spring this year.

Conclusion

When I first began writing this phenological report for my family’s Dorset farm this year, I began with the recorded plant species and was unable to find any observable trends between years and species, and within species. Though I was starting to feel that absence of trends was still important, things were looking more interesting when I turned my attention to recorded insect and bird species events. Both insect and bird species showed trends towards events occurring earlier this spring, which is more noticeable after a lack of trends over the last couple of years. These show that the season being on average warmer and sunnier this year did have an impact on animal species, even if more factors were involved in what was seen with recorded plant species.

Species List

  • Alder (Tree) Alnus glutinosa
  • Ash (Tree) Fraxinus excelsior
  • Blackbird (Bird) Turdus merula
  • Blackcap (Bird) Sylvia atricapilla
  • Blackthorn (Shrub) Prunus spinosa
  • Bluebell (Flowering Plant) Hyacinthoides non-scripta
  • Brimstone butterfly (Insect) Gonepteryx rhamni
  • Buff-tailed bumblebee (Insect) Bombus terrestris
  • Chiffchaff (Bird) Phylloscopus collybita
  • Common wasp (Insect) Vespula vulgaris
  • Cowslip (Flowering Plant) Primula veris
  • Cuckoo (Bird) Cuculus canorus
  • Cuckooflower (Flowering Plant) Cardamine pratensis
  • Daffodil (Flowering Plant) Narcissus spp.
  • Dog rose (Shrub) Rosa canina
  • Early purple orchid (Flowering Plant) Orchis mascula
  • Elder (Shrub) Sambucus nigra
  • English oak (Tree) Quercus robur
  • Field maple (Tree) Acer campestre
  • Greater stitchwort (Flowering Plant) Stellaria holostea
  • Great-spotted woodpecker (Bird) Dendrocopos major
  • Hawthorn (Shrub) Crataegus monogyna
  • Hazel (Shrub) Crataegus monogyna
  • Horse chestnut (Tree) Aesculus hippocastanum
  • Lesser celandine (Flowering Plant) Ficaria verna
  • Norway maple (Tree) Acer platanoides
  • Orange-tip butterfly (Insect) Anthocharis cardamines
  • Oxeye daisy (Flowering Plant) Leucanthemum vulgare
  • Peacock butterfly (Insect) Aglais io
  • Primrose (Flowering Plant) Primula vulgaris
  • Lilac (Shrub) Syringa vulgaris
  • Red admiral butterfly (Insect) Vanessa atalanta
  • Rook (Bird) Corvus frugilegus
  • Seven-spot ladybird (Insect) Coccinella septempunctata)
  • Silver birch (Tree) Betula pendula
  • Small tortoiseshell butterfly (Insect) Aglais urticae
  • Small white butterfly
  • Snowdrop (Flowering Plant) Galanthus spp.
  • Song thrush (Bird) Turdus philomelos
  • Speckled wood butterfly (Insect) Pararge aegeria
  • Swallow (Bird) Hirundo rustica
  • Sycamore (Tree) Acer pseudoplatanus
  • Wild cherry (Tree) Prunus avium
  • Wild garlic (Flowering Plant) Allium ursinum
  • Wood anemone (Flowering Plant) Anemone nemorosa
  • Yellow archangel (Flowering Plant) Lamium galeobdolon

Spring In Photos 2025

/ Laura Tuke / 2 Comments

“The beautiful spring came; and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also” — Harriet Ann Jacobs

As I learn to love how all the seasons in nature have something different to offer, I cannot help but still feel my heart sing when I see the first blooms of spring, hear the first chiffchaff echo across a field, or see the first butterfly flit past on a sunny day. Spring is a time for the renewal of hope, a celebration of colour and vibrancy, and a time that often feels like a collective sigh of relief. It is a season of optimism, and new possibilities, but also passes, like this year, in a blink of an eye.

This year though, I have really embraced the capturing of different light, colour and subjects during spring, giving myself the freedom to explore nature through a lens. As part of this, I also began to experiment with a new camera as part of my photography kit, and kept open minded during the process. It will take a while to sort through all the photos taken so far this year, but for now here is a snapshot of my spring 2025, through a lens, camera or iphone.

Spring In Photos 2025

The new addition to the Tuke family (Barley)

Walking through the Daffodowndillies

My Raven and her baby boy Jackdaw

One of my favourite first signs of spring, the Wood Anemone

The start of new life (here Blue Tits and Robins)

Enjoying the Bluebells from horseback (Dove)

Sunrise swimming in Appledore

Birdwatching on Lundy (Devon)

In my element, camera in hand and fantastic wildlife (Lundy, Devon)

The vibrancy of spring (A Speckled Wood Butterfly on a Rhododendron)

My suckler calves always love to pose for a photo (Orchid)

Herefordshire in the Golden Hour

This is just a very small snapshot of my year so far! More to come.

A Year in the Life of a Woodland – Part 2

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

Throughout 2024, I followed in person a year in the life of an ancient, broadleaved woodland in the heart of rural Dorset. I followed its progress from certain points within its bounds, and observed the beauty the woodland had to offer throughout the seasons. It was really interesting to see what goes on during each month of the year within a classic english country woodland, and to be able see the subtle differences as time went on.

Previously on my blog, I left the woodland at the end of June after six months of colourful adventures. I watched as winter transformed into a vibrant spring and moved towards the summer months. From majestic skeletal trees and the unrolling of green to carpets of blue and flashes of beautiful butterflies, the woodland showed itself to be a master of changing its finery in dramatic style. To read more, check out Part 1 on my blog!

This time I delve into the second half of 2024 amongst the trees, as summer brings tranquil days, autumn comes with a riot of colour, and the woodland slips back into its winter slumber. How will these months differ to those of the first half of the year and what can we learn as the days regress once again. Here’s part 2 of my A Year in the Life of a Woodland.

July

Summer has arrived! Stepping into the woodland, humid warmth is replaced by a refreshing cool within the shade of the tall trees. All around the undergrowth is starting to die back, with flower heads dropping their spent petals and seeds beginning to be produced. Herb robert survives on though, with nodding heads of still bright pink flowers, whilst honeysuckle hangs from the trees, giving off their heady scent, and enchanter’s nightshade and bramble flowers start to appear. Amongst all this, ferns now stand tall along open tracks and wooodland glades, lush green and stealing the summer sunlight from any plants tucked below.

Birds of the woodland are now concentrating on feeding their young or are even coming to the end of this year’s breeding season. Distant chiffchaffs and wrens sing on though, alongside woodpigeons calling, and tits communicating up in the trees. Buzzing flies can also be heard on warmer days, whilst dragonflies dance along woodland borders on silent wings. A fox slinks by through the shadows of the trees, on silent paws, at ease, only turning its head as it walks by. With the woodland now full of new life, the excitement and activity of spring is ebbing away, and we welcome the days of the more relaxed summer season.

August

The woods are returning to their quieter state once again. The days are beginning to shorten in small increments, and the first whisperings of autumn can be felt. The start of August has been interesting with the woods seeing hot days broken up with spells of grey and heavy showers. As evening sun breaks through the still lush, but battered canopy, it’s noticeable that the woodland floor is picking up pace receding now. The hint of colour from flowers is completely disappearing, whilst the green undergrowth is beginning to show the brown leaf litter layer below.

Silence blankets the woodland, broken by wind up in the tree canopy, distant bird contact calls, and noise beyond the woodland altogether. The joyful bird song of spring has long served it’s purpose, and now the time has come when summer visitors are beginning to think of moving on to warmer climes, as the first signs of autumn have arrived. Plants hang with fat seed heads, hazel trees are laden with nuts that are already being pilfered, grey squirrels can be heard alarm calling up in the trees, and jays are popping up with their rough screaming calls. It’s a time of bounty and fruitfulness, a time to celebrate what nature has given us this year, and a time to prepare for the slumber to come.

September

The first breath of chilly air has arrived and rarer dry days have an edge to them. Another change in the year is coming, as the woodland floor dies back, leaving increasing patches of last year’s leaf litter open to the air once again. In places grass is crowding out other species on woodland rides, whilst ferns begin to turn brown, like fire catching their leaves’ edges. The first holly berries are beginning to redden, hazel trees are bedecked in green nuts, ripe blackberries are already beginning to soften, and oaks are growing their iconic nuts complete with their classic cups.

The mornings are now renewed with a gentle soundtrack of calling birds in the woodland, with residents claiming territories and migrants passing through on their way. Nuthatches, wrens, goldcrests and robins are amongst this cohort, creating a bubble of bird song. The afternoons are quieter, filled with lazily buzzing insects, and the odd animal sound. This afternoon though, the woodland soundscape is broken up with the sound of a great-spotted woodpecker moving from tree to tree and tapping to find food beneath bark. 

October

Nights are drawing in, temperatures are beginning to cool, and the dampness in the air is creeping in. Trees, such as oak, hazel and ash, are beginning to show changes to the colour of their leaves, adding yellows, reds, and oranges to their palette. As the trees signal the start of changing out of their finery, the ferns covering the woodland floor below are now fully on fire, curling up and browning away. As this dying off progresses, new life is symbolised through nuts, seeds and berries, such as the first ripe holly berries, shiny and red, waiting to be eaten. To buck the trend, ivy tendrils are sprouting clusters of green balls, their late flowers that will reach their peak in November.

Most of the summer avian residents will have begun their travels to warmer climes, leaving overwintering birds moving through and residents staying put. For example, our native robins are beginning to sing strong once again, needing to defend their important territories throughout the winter. Tits can be heard beginning to travel in small feeding flocks, whilst wrens and goldcrests flit in the branches currently going solo. Mammals do not make an appearance during my visit, but there are signs of the badgers, foxes, roe deer and squirrels that call the woods home. Times are bountiful for those who can find it, but harsher days are on their way!

November

The arrival of November is accompanied by shortening day lengths and biting northerly winds. Mostly the month begins calm in the woodland with grey or sunny days. As trees continue to take in the goodness of this year’s bounty of leaves, the green of summer has been fully taken over by bright fierce colours in the canopy, with the orange of oak, yellow of hazel, gold of field maple, and red of hawthorn, amongst others. The leaves also begin to fall from on high, twirling to the ground and beginning to form a crunchy leaf litter under foot. The trees are going to go out with a riot of colour!

The soft sunlight falling through the trees marks a slowing of time and activity for wildlife. Pheasants meander amongst the trees being released from local shoots. A raucous jay echoes through the still trees. Mushrooms poke up from the leaf litter here and there creating a more ethereal quality to the woodland during this time. It finally feels like autumn has arrived just at the point when people look towards the closing of the year in a month’s time. Time to savour the last hurrah of nature!

December

The year is rolling on to its close once again and winter is fully upon us. As I step back into the woodland for one last walk of the year, a cool breeze bites my cheeks whilst cheerful sunshine falls through the trees. Now I find myself surrounded by leafless forms once again, bare, skeletal, but magnificent, especially the ancient oaks. The last few hazel leaves cling to their branches, but most trees have now shed their finery, and a new carpet of leaf litter satisfyingly crunches beneath my feet. The trees are putting nutrients back into the earth as they now lay in slumber.

Up above my head, I can hear a soft tap, tap, tap. The sound of a great-spotted woodpecker moving from tree to tree once again, and tapping for food under their barks. Birds call all around me, from angry wrens, territorial robins, and hungry blue tits, to a raven passing overhead, blackbirds on the wing, and even a nuthatch going about its business. Badgers will now be sleeping more, whilst foxes are more active, thinking about breeding once again. There is still so much life to be found out in this Dorset woodland, even if all are just trying to survive through to another year. December is rolling on and a new year beckons!

Spring 2024: How It Happened

/ Laura Tuke / 1 Comment

Over the last few years, it has been noticeable that weather patterns and average temperatures have been changing and highly unpredictable, leading to the seasons, such as spring, varying from month-to-month and year-to-year, especially here in Dorset. For example, last year spring began a wash out, moving to cold and stormy spells, before ending with heat waves. This year was an equally odd series of spring weather events with a cold start to the season, followed by wet weather with northerly winds, and finishing with drier spells. It was on average warmer and wetter, but cold nights continued for a long time, and had a noticeable effect on plant growth patterns being seen.

Spring 2023 encountered trends for later spring events and a slow start to spring, which helped to create a mismatch between species and spring events. With a warmer, wetter winter before spring this year, and often above average spring temperatures, it is likely the trends this year may differ to those of 2023. It will be interesting to see if this has had an effect though, by looking at trends for some tree, shrub, flower, insect and bird species. How will spring 2024 have shaped up? Read on to see how my favourite season unfurled this year!

Trees

During 2023, spring emergence dates for trees showed a trend for on average later dates, ranging from 1 to 28 days later. In 2024 though, the majority of spring tree dates were earlier, as seen with field maple, horse chestnut, english oak, and wild cherry, ranging from 1 to 22 days earlier from March through to May. Alder dates though were fractionally later, as were ash and sycamore flowering, and silver birch and norway maple budburst, but the other events for these species occurred earlier. The on average warmer and wetter weather will most likely be the reason for these trends, allowing trees to get a head start this year.

Flowers

Plants flowering during spring 2023 occurred on average later, varying from 1 to 16 days. During spring 2024 though, flowering has occurred earlier, as was the trend with tree species. For snowdrops, lesser celandines, primroses, greater stitchwort, wood anemones, early purple orchids, wild garlic, yellow archangel, cuckooflowers, oxeye daisies, and bluebells flowering occurred 1 to 32 days earlier between January and May. The exceptions were found with daffodils, flowering 6 days later during February, and cowslips, 4 days later during April. It would be understandable thus to think that the warmer, wetter weather of the start of spring will have had a heavy influence on these events, just like with trees.

Insects

Of 12 species that had the emergence date recorded during spring 2023, the majority emerged later than the year before, ranging from 2 to 46 days later. This year though, spring 2024 saw the occurrence of a 50:50 split for the 10 species that had their emergence date recorded, with some species from 2023 yet to be seen at all, such as painted lady butterflies.

Buff-tailed bumblebees, 7-spotted ladybirds, and orange tip, red admiral, and speckled wood butterflies all emerged earlier this year, ranging from 2 to 46 days earlier. Conversely, queen wasps, and brimstone, peacock, gatekeeper, and small tortoiseshell butterflies all emerged later than 2023, ranging from 8 to 47 days later. Though not complete for all, the split does tend to be due to March to April species emerging earlier this year whereas April to June species emerged later this year. This may be due to April being a cooler, wetter month this year, impacting insect species more greatly than plant species that were already making their advance and were less impacted.

Shrubs

Spring 2023 mainly showed a trend for later shrub budburst, leaf unfurling and flowering, ranging from 3-27 days from March to May. In contrast, for spring 2024, the majority of events for shrubs occurred earlier, ranging from 1 to 53 days earlier from December through to May. These included for blackthorn, dog rose, elder, hawthorn and hazel, with the only later event being for red female hazel flowers being observed. This trend shows similarities to those of trees and spring flowering plants, and would be similarly due to a warmer, wetter winter and start of spring, allowing events to occur earlier and shrubs to get a head start on the season.

Birds

Following on from the last two years (2022 and 2023), the dates of bird events during spring 2024 showed no clear trend, with a split between different species and events. Rooks began building their nests earlier, chiffchaffs and swallows arrived earlier, song thrushes and yellowhammers first sang earlier, and the first wrens fledged earlier. Conversely, blackbirds first sang later, the first blackbirds fledged later, blackcaps, cuckoos and house martins arrived later, and great-spotted woodpeckers drummed later.

Some of these event timing changes will be due to spring temperatures and weather conditions on short term and long term scales. Other reasons are less obvious currently, but the hope is that bird events will still have been timed right with other species to make the most of resources this year.

Conclusion

Spring 2024 was a thoroughly odd season, varying from month-to-month, but feeling like wet weather prevailed more than the normal. In the end it was vibrant and colourful, though missing the traditional spring feeling. This year spring was heavily effected by climatic changes and changes to weather patterns, and this may become typical during the springs to come. It is really hard to predict then how each season will play out, and it will be interesting to see now how all British species cope with such unpredictability as time goes on. Only time will tell!

Species List

  • Alder (Tree) Alnus glutinosa
  • Ash (Tree) Fraxinus excelsior
  • Blackbird (Bird) Turdus merula
  • Blackcap (Bird) Sylvia atricapilla
  • Blackthorn (Shrub) Prunus spinosa
  • Bluebell (Flowering Plant) Hyacinthoides non-scripta
  • Brimstone butterfly (Insect) Gonepteryx rhamni
  • Buff-tailed bumblebee (Insect) Bombus terrestris
  • Chiffchaff (Bird) Phylloscopus collybita
  • Common wasp (Insect) Vespula vulgaris
  • Cowslip (Flowering Plant) Primula veris
  • Cuckoo (Bird) Cuculus canorus
  • Cuckooflower (Flowering Plant) Cardamine pratensis
  • Daffodil (Flowering Plant) Narcissus spp.
  • Dog rose (Shrub) Rosa canina
  • Early purple orchid (Flowering Plant) Orchis mascula
  • Elder (Shrub) Sambucus nigra
  • English oak (Tree) Quercus robur
  • Field maple (Tree) Acer campestre
  • Gatekeeper butterfly (Insect) Pyronia tithonus
  • Greater stitchwort (Flowering Plant) Stellaria holostea
  • Great-spotted woodpecker (Bird) Dendrocopos major
  • Hawthorn (Shrub) Crataegus monogyna
  • Hazel (Shrub) Crataegus monogyna
  • Horse chestnut (Tree) Aesculus hippocastanum
  • House martin (Bird) Delichon urbicum
  • Lesser celandine (Flowering Plant) Ficaria verna
  • Norway maple (Tree) Acer platanoides
  • Orange-tip butterfly (Insect) Anthocharis cardamines
  • Oxeye daisy (Flowering Plant) Leucanthemum vulgare
  • Peacock butterfly (Insect) Aglais io
  • Primrose (Flowering Plant) Primula vulgaris
  • Red admiral butterfly (Insect) Vanessa atalanta
  • Rook (Bird) Corvus frugilegus
  • Seven-spot ladybird (Insect) Coccinella septempunctata)
  • Silver birch (Tree) Betula pendula
  • Small tortoiseshell butterfly (Insect) Aglais urticae
  • Snowdrop (Flowering Plant) Galanthus spp.
  • Song thrush (Bird) Turdus philomelos
  • Speckled wood butterfly (Insect) Pararge aegeria
  • Swallow (Bird) Hirundo rustica
  • Sycamore (Tree) Acer pseudoplatanus
  • Wild cherry (Tree) Prunus avium
  • Wild garlic (Flowering Plant) Allium ursinum
  • Wood anemone (Flowering Plant) Anemone nemorosa
  • Wren (Bird) Troglodytes troglodytes
  • Yellow archangel (Flowering Plant) Lamium galeobdolon
  • Yellowhammer (Bird) Emberiza citrinella

A Year In The Life Of A Woodland – Part 1

/ Laura Tuke / 1 Comment

In 2022, I followed the annual cycle of one particular oak tree as it went through its own life stages, and watched the landscape change from its corner of a Dorset field. The tree encountered hunting barn owls, howling gales, breeding kestrels, and even a family of foxes, and observed such a vibrant year in nature even just from one spot. So for 2024, I wanted to follow such a story again, but this time on a different scale.

This year I am following a year in the life of an ancient, broadleaved woodland in the heart of rural, rolling Dorset. I will follow its progress from certain points within its bounds, and observe the beauty the woodland has to offer throughout the seasons. I look forward to seeing what goes on through the year, and the subtle differences from month to month at its heart. To start, I bring to you the first half of a year in the life of a woodland (January-June).

January

Entering the woods again at the start of a new year, there is a distinct feeling that the landscape currently lies in slumber. Though in previous years January has experienced wintery weather with cold spells characterised by hoar frosts and sheets of snow, this year the bite is missing from the weather, allowing the first signs of new life to appear already. The low winter sun breaks through the sturdy trunks of dormant trees, shining weak rays on the green leaves of woodland plants beginning to pop up underfoot, wood anemone and bluebells included.

Up in the naked boughs of the trees, birds fly from branch to branch, including blue tits, great tits, and goldcrests, buzzards whirl in the skies above, and pheasants make their raucous call now and again. Remaining holly and hawthorn berries provide a spot of colour against ivy and plentiful moss, but with the first lush greens and pastel yellows popping up, such as hazel catkins dangling from the trees, the woods are hinting at change. These are the first whisperings of spring in the stillness of the woodland, with more signs being found at night, such as tawny owls loudly defending their territories, and badgers and foxes increasing their roaming amongst the trees.

February

As a new month begins, the landscape feels like it is very much still in the grips of winter. A grey gloom hangs over the woodland, with the overcast sky threatening an endless possibility of rain. Where February 2023 was a cold, dry month, February 2024 is reflecting continued milder and wetter weather than average, with sunshine being much in demand. It is still not warm enough for any further advancement in the signs of spring from the previous month though, with the woodland floor still being mainly dressed in warm browns. Despite this, those first whisperings of new life can still be seen, with the slow marching growth of shoots of well known species, such as bluebell and stitchwort.

The mosses and lichens are also now joined by the much needed warm yellows of primroses and celandines, along with the red gems that are female hazel flowers. The slumbering woodland is currently the backdrop for the day-toiday life of its winter residents, but with the addition of blackbirds and song thrushes now starting to sing their melodious songs ahead of breeding in the spring.

March

As March begins, the start of blackthorn winter brings biting winds from the north, creating a break in 2024’s trend for warmer and wetter weather, which continues for the rest of the month. A rare calm day though sees the woodland bathed in soft, early spring sunshine, as it begins to finally switch from its shroud of brown to greens, with a carpet of new growth. Bluebell leaves are marching on in their advance of growth, making the most of increasing temperatures, whilst spear-shaped wild garlic leaves now carpet areas around the ambling streams through the middle of the wood. Hazel catkins are now fading to a creamy yellow, and their red female flowers are joined by swelling leaf buds. Though spring is advancing quickly, the woodland still waits for more flowers to keep company with the primroses and celandines.

A difference lies up in the trees. The woodland is coming alive with the sound of bird species that have wintered here in the UK and do not have to travel as far to return to their breeding territories. From great tits and blue tits, to wrens and goldcrests, a range of calls and songs can be heard, cut through by the sound of great-spotted woodpeckers drumming near and far. Mammals are beginning to become more active too, with grey squirrels fighting for territory and roe deer groups roaming through and around the woods. Spring is on its way!

April

As spring unfurls, the weather of April feels reminiscent of 2023, with cooler, damper weather dominating due to persistent north winds and plenty of rain. In the woods growth continues to move forward, but at a noticeably slower pace than could be expected. The month opens with tree buds swelling, hazel and hawthorn leaves bursting forth, and trees dripping with blackthorn and willow flowers. The woodland floor is coming to life now with a never ending mat of purple dog violets, pale green moschatel, yellow celandines and primroses, white stitchwort, the beginnings of purple-blue bluebells, and the fantastic starry heads of wood anemones. Wild garlic leaves continue to grow around the bubbling streams, smelling noticeably pungent now and beginning to show the whites of flower buds, whilst ferns unfurl their hairy coils across the woodland.

As the woodland bursts into life, it is accompanied by an intensifying soundtrack. In the background a rich tapestry of bird song can be heard, as migrants make their return, from great tits, blue tits and wrens, to chiffchaffs, blackbirds and robins. These include the continued crow of pheasants, the cat-like mewling of buzzards circling overhead, and the barks of grey squirrels. Listening more closely though, buzzing can now be heard as bees and flies make the most of flowers now blooming. The woodland finally feels alive after the first three months of the year taking its toll, though it waits for the return of some warm spring sunshine.

May

On a quiet afternoon at the start of the month, stepping amongst the trees is like stepping into a whole new world compared to the start of the year. Sunlight falls soft through new green leaves, dappling the woodland floor with warmth and light. At the base of the trees, the floor is now a lush green carpet of plant life. The cooler weather of April has meant that some April events have continued on into May, such as the bluebells, whilst the wind now coming from the south bringing warmer weather is beginning to promote much needed new growth.

Bluebells are just going over their peak after a spectacular show of rich purple-blue that has been breathtaking. Amongst hanging bells, stitchwort is continuing to open new flowers, alongside shocks of pink from herb Robert. New flowers appear in the forms of early-purple orchids, and red campion. Yellow archangel that took some time to arrive is becoming bleached to a creamy yellow, whereas wood anemones are bidding their final farewell. Wild garlic persists as do bright yellow celandines, adding to the show. Things move on though, as the ferns begin to overshadow the bluebells with their green fronds. Spring marches on.

With plant life becoming abundant, the woodland is now abuzz with insects of many kinds, whilst spiders make their homes between the flowers. Midges are particularly prevalent this year with a damp spring too! A highlight right now though, is the woodland’s bird life, with the continued singing of many species that call the woods home and are breeding right now, the chiffchaff really standing out in particular. Somewhere in a hole in a tree, maybe a tall oak, a female blue tit will now be sat tight on her eggs, growing the next generation of blue tits. 

June

As I step into the woodland on one of the first dry days in a while, my surroundings move from bright light to light spots and shadows. The tree canopy is now nearing completion and lush green oak, ash and hazel blanket out the light. Below on the woodland floor, a change has occurred. Spring stars have finally made their leave, and riotous bluebells, early-purple orchids, and wild garlic have been replaced by a dense green carpet of leaves. Herb Robert has taken over, with pink flowers creating a joyful pop of colour. Also these flowers are joined by white pig nut, purple germander speedwell, and pink foxgloves, and the lst yellow archangel, stitchwort and vibrant dog violets. The green seed pods of previous flowers remain, and a bluebell here and there when lucky, but now ferns stand tall above the woodland floor, unfurling their final leaves and making a canopy of their own.

As the spring season bids us farewell, it’s now the time of new life and growth, which is currently evident in the woodland. The drone of insects has lessened as flowers go over, but can still be found with flashes of blue damselflies, battling speckled wood butterflies, and striped flies. The first young of mammals, such as foxes, and birds, such as tawny owls, are also now venturing out to explore their new world. This can be heard up in the trees with the songs of birds and the alarm calls of protective parents. Summer and lazy days are on their way!

Spring In Photos 2024

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

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 Gold
In The Spotlight
The Rook To My Raven
Focussing On The Little Things
Sparkling In The Dark
Flying 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!

12 Days of Laura’s Wild Photos 2023

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

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 the end 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 round once again.

Day 12 – For my finale, I decided to head back into the woodlands during late spring. Under boughs of hazel here, a lone 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!

Spring 2023: How It Happened

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

The last few years spring has been unusual and unpredictable, with the effects of climate change changing from month-to-month, year-to-year in Dorset. This year has fitted into this with months switching back and forth between record breaking dry spells or heat waves to rainfall or low temperatures. This is bound to have had an effect on nature and the wildlife around us, which is interesting to explore.

Last year there were trends towards earlier spring events or a slow start to spring and then a speeding up to events in April. I can already suggest that spring this year was slow to start as it gave me the opportunity to really experience spring as it got under way and unfolded in front of me. It will be interesting to see though, if this was the trend for trees, shrubs, flowers, insects and birds alike, if the trend differs to 2022 and how spring shaped up as a whole. Read on to see how my favourite season went this year in all its vibrancy!

Trees

Though in 2022 spring emergence dates for trees had crept earlier than the year before, in 2023 nearly all tree dates were later than 2022, following a more similar trend to 2021 and the proceeding years. Field maple and silver birch both flowered earlier in April, but otherwise ash, horse chestnut, english oak, wild cherry and Norway maple all budburst, unfurled leaves and flowered between 1 and 28 days later from March through to May. The same could be said for the leaves of field maple and silver birch. It was odd to see trees though, lacking their fineries for so long this year!

Flowers

In 2022, flowering times varied between species, but this could be split into half flowering earlier and half later than the year before. This year primroses, cuckooflowers and bluebells in woodland all flowered earlier (4, 2 and 1 day earlier respectively), but flowering trends generally followed a more similar pattern to to those of tree events, occurring later. For snowdrops, lesser celandines, daffodils, stitchwort, cowslips, wood anemones, early purple orchids, wild garlic, oxeye daisies, and hedgerow bluebells this was 1-16 days later between January and June. Interestingly yellow archangel was noticeably absent during its usual flowering time, and instead flowered 36 days later than in 2022 on 17th May, being greatly affected by climate and a great indicator of spring conditions.

Insects

Of 13 species recorded emerging during spring 2022, only 2 did not emerge earlier than the year before: the buff-tailed bumblebee and orange-tip butterfly. For 2023, spring flipped dates back around for insect emergences, with 10 out of 12 recorded species emerging later than the year before. This ranged from 2 days later with the speckled wood butterfly to 46 days later with the red admiral butterfly. The exceptions were peacock and comma butterflies, being recorded 15 and 36 days earlier respectively. This could be due to the colder spring impacting and delaying emergences, for example the brimstone butterfly, a common sign of spring, delayed its emergence until the 3rd of April 2023.

Shrubs

For shrub species recorded in 2022, spring events occurred both earlier and later than in 2021, with no obvious trends. In comparison, spring 2023 showed an obvious trend, with nearly all recorded budburst, first leaf unfurling and flowering for 6 species, occurring later than 2022. The exceptions were dog rose flowering earlier in May and hazel catkins flowering earlier in January. The other spring events took place 3-27 days later from February to May. It was an odd year to see blackthorn flowering 2 weeks later within March and meeting its peak in April, and hawthorn first flowering in May, later than usual.

Birds

There was a split with spring bird events in 2022, with events closer to the start of the season occurring later, and those towards the second half occurring earlier than 2021. For 2023, it seems that the dates of spring bird events were also split, but this time with less clear a trend. Rooks began building nests later and most birds fledged young later, but swallows arrived on the 11th April once again, and blackbirds began singing earlier in February. Some differences in event occurrence can be explained by spring temperatures and weather conditions, whereas some are less easily explained for 2023. It is expected though that the later spring will have an overall effect on bird species through other spring events occurring later.

Conclusion

Spring 2023 varied from month-to-month with weather, temperatures, natural events and vibrancy. As a whole, a general unsettled and cooler time led to spring events occurring later than the year before for many species. The concern is though, that there may be a mismatch between the occurrence of events for different species, such as trees and birds, which could have had a greater impact than currently known. Time will tell what the impact of spring 2023 may be!

Species List

  • Ash (Tree) Fraxinus excelsior
  • Blackbird (Bird) Turdus merula
  • Blackcap (Bird) Sylvia atricapilla
  • Blackthorn (Shrub) Prunus spinosa
  • Bluebell (Flowering Plant) Hyacinthoides non-scripta
  • Brimstone butterfly (Insect) Gonepteryx rhamni
  • Buff-tailed bumblebee (Insect) Bombus terrestris
  • Chiffchaff (Bird) Phylloscopus collybita
  • Comma butterfly (Insect) Polygonia c-album
  • Cowslip (Flowering Plant) Primula veris
  • Cuckoo (Bird) Cuculus canorus
  • Cuckooflower (Flowering Plant) Cardamine pratensis
  • Daffodil (Flowering Plant) Narcissus spp.
  • Dog rose (Shrub) Rosa canina
  • Early purple orchid (Flowering Plant) Orchis mascula
  • Elder (Shrub) Sambucus nigra
  • English oak (Tree) Quercus robur
  • Field maple (Tree) Acer campestre
  • Goldfinch (Bird) Carduelis carduelis
  • Greater stitchwort (Flowering Plant) Stellaria holostea
  • Great-spotted woodpecker (Bird) Dendrocopos major
  • Hawthorn (Shrub) Crataegus monogyna
  • Hazel (Shrub) Crataegus monogyna
  • Horse chestnut (Tree) Aesculus hippocastanum
  • House martin (Bird) Delichon urbicum
  • House sparrow (Bird) Passer domesticus
  • Lesser celandine (Flowering Plant) Ficaria verna
  • Meadow brown butterfly (Insect) Maniola jurtina
  • Norway maple (Tree) Acer platanoides
  • Orange-tip butterfly (Insect) Anthocharis cardamines
  • Oxeye daisy (Flowering Plant) Leucanthemum vulgare
  • Painted lady butterfly (Insect) Vanessa cardui
  • Peacock butterfly (Insect) Aglais io
  • Primrose (Flowering Plant) Primula vulgaris
  • Red admiral butterfly (Insect) Vanessa atalanta
  • Red-tailed bumblebee (Insect) Bombus lapidarius
  • Rook (Bird) Corvus frugilegus
  • Seven-spot ladybird (Insect) Coccinella septempunctata)
  • Silver birch (Tree) Betula pendula
  • Small tortoiseshell butterfly (Insect) Aglais urticae
  • Snowdrop (Flowering Plant) Galanthus spp.
  • Song thrush (Bird) Turdus philomelos
  • Speckled wood butterfly (Insect) Pararge aegeria
  • Starling (Bird) Sturnus vulgaris
  • Swallow (Bird) Hirundo rustica
  • Swift (Bird) Apus apus
  • Wild cherry (Tree) Prunus avium
  • Wild garlic (Flowering Plant) Allium ursinum
  • Wood anemone (Flowering Plant) Anemone nemorosa
  • Wren (Bird) Troglodytes troglodytes
  • Yellow archangel (Flowering Plant) Lamium galeobdolon
  • Yellowhammer (Bird) Emberiza citrinella

Spring In Photos 2023

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

This year spring has been a very unusual and unpredictable couple of months for nature. Last year, spring took its time to unfurl, and this year saw a similar trend. A very dry February, a very wet March, a cold April, and then a wet followed by hot and dry May, made for a slow start to spring, and a short and vibrant season.

Despite an odd spring this year, the season has been an enjoyable and fulfilling one for me. It has been filled with lots of wild adventures, experiences, and colourful moments. With my camera by my side (or phone), I have spent lots of time this year capturing and exploring spring in all its shades and vibrancy. Here’s just a few of the many versions of my spring 2023.

Spring In Photos

Seeing Red – When people think of hazel flowers, catkins always come to mind, hanging like lamb-tails and powdered with yellow pollen. These are just the male flowers, with the female ones taking the form of understated buds topped with bright red tufts of styles, adding much needed pops of colour at the start of spring.

Glistening Snowdrops – This year I spent much time photographing snowdrops in different ways, making the most of the flowers staying around later into spring. Here I enjoy the glisten of the simple white petals of a nodding snowdrop.

Walking the Line – This crow can be easily recognised from its silhouetted form against the pastels of a blue sky in early spring. A simple photo but an effective one.

Pretty in Pastel – A cheerful sign of spring, primroses get their name from the latin for ‘first rose’. Flowering early in spring, they are often seen as a harbinger of the season, brightening the bleak winter landscape.

Blossoming Chiffchaffs – Chiffchaffs are a real highlight of spring for me, adding to the soundtrack for trees blossoming and leaves unfurling, flowers blooming, and the landscape becoming alive with life once again. I had always wanted to try and capture them amongst this backdrop and this year I had my opportunity to do just that!

Quarry Bank Comes to Life – A National Trust property in Cheshire (check out A Naturalist in Manchester), Quarry Bank’s gardens come to life in spring with a fantastic array of colours!

Sunshine Celandine – Celandines are another classic spring flower, helping to provide a joyful pop of colour, as winter slips away. I always enjoy the challenge each year of trying to photograph them in new and interesting ways.

The Hare [Not] In A Hurry – Whilst walking in my local woods, I caught sight of this lovely pair in a neighbouring field. It was lovely to sit and watch them for awhile as they groomed themselves and interacted with each other, never knowing that I was there.

In The Blue – People familiar with my blog and photos will know that bluebells are one of my favourite spring flowers, as they fill me with joy when I see a woodland floor carpeted with their fantastic blue. The bells individually are like magic themselves.

Leading the Way – A lone early-purple orchid bordering an animal track running through a woodland. These spotty-leaved plants can be found in clusters or as here, on their own, amongst the trees.

Woodland Wonders – The wood anemone is another of my favourite spring flowers, appearing like little stars in the green of a woodland floor. Being found in light spots, they are an indicator of ancient woodland.

On the Way to the Peak – Set against a spectacular backdrop of the Peak District, my friend Emma and I passed these stone stacks on the ridge up to Mam Tor. They provide an interesting feature to the rugged landscape.

A Patch of Light – It’s not the first time that I have enjoyed photographing wild garlic in spots of sunshine, but these clusters of white stars always add a bit of enchantment to the landscape.

Ewe and Me – This photo was taken during my first time out with my swanky, but hard-earned, new telephoto lens, and I was hooked. It is so enjoyable to get up, close and personal with animals without having to disturb their natural behaviour!

Blue-Toned – This was a chance sighting, but a wonderful one to see a holly blue butterfly on the deep purple-blue of bluebells. Wonderful!

Terrific Tawnies – One of my highlights of spring was having our first brood of tawny owl chicks hatch within one of our nest boxes. These two chicks grew on to both fledge successfully from their box!

A Naturalist in Manchester

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

A city of industry, Manchester is well known for its textiles, football, music, and transport links. It is lesser known though for its connection to nature, such as the city’s proud centuries-old symbol of the worker bee, and the wildlife that call the city and wider area home, from barn owls and otters to hedgehogs and peregrine falcons. With over half of urban Greater Manchester currently being made up of green or blue spaces, the city itself now aims to tackle biodiversity loss, beginning with the 2020 Edinburgh Declaration.

As Manchester works to recover and improve spaces for nature and wildlife of all shapes and sizes in an ever-changing environment, it is an interesting time to explore what the city and Greater Manchester has to offer. On a recent trip to visit my friend and fellow wildlife lover Emma Rogan in her home city (see Rural vs. Urban), I got to do just that. Through a series of different adventures, Emma introduced me to what Manchester has to offer to the naturalist over the course of a week. So what did I discover?

Didsbury Park, Didsbury

Situated in the south of the city, this modest green space has been a popular recreational spot since its redesign in the 1920s. Managed by a team of volunteers, Didsbury park meets the needs of the community with a play area, football pitch, bowling green, and cafe. Alongside the human elements, the park also puts an emphasis on providing habitats for wildlife where possible.

For me, when first entering the park, I took in the many flowering tree species, such as horse chestnut and wild cherry, and flowerbeds abuzz with insects. Though only a short walk to take in all the park had to offer, there were also surprises to be found. This included a wildflower meadow, wood carvings tucked away, and even a bird garden managed for different bird species, including providing food for the pair of nuthatches I saw feeding their fledged young up in the trees. The park was a lovely example of how even small green spaces are so important for city wildlife!

Fletcher Moss, Didsbury

A 5 minute walk from Didsbury Park and also situated in the south of Manchester, Fletcher Moss Park is perfect for a dog walk, birdwatching, or a Sunday morning ramble. Mine and Emma’s adventure to Fletcher Moss started at the Parsonage Gardens, a tranquil area surrounding the old home of the park’s namesake Fletcher Moss. In May, the gardens were particularly spectacular with azaleas and wisteria in flower, along with flowerbeds awash with colour and alive with bees and orange-tip butterflies. Walking on past compost heaps and an alpine greenhouse, we made our way out on to Stenner Lane.

After a short walk, we left the lane behind with its swathes of wild garlic and sights of the magnificent poplar avenue, to join the banks of the meandering River Mersey. Along it’s stretches, we came across Simon’s Bridge constructed in 1901, and a whole host of wildlife, all with a backdrop of the noise of the M60 close by. Though the river had much wildlife on offer, such as colourful brimstone butterflies, on this part of the walk I was most interested in the bird species to be seen. This ranged from the city specialists, such as ring-necked parakeets and magpies, to smaller species, such as great tits, dunnocks and chiffchaffs, and water birds, such as canada geese, mallard ducks and even a female goosander.

Once breaking away from the calming flow of the river, the habitat changed from edge habitat to grassland to woodland all within a couple of kilometres. Through Millgate Fields we experienced hedgerows full of heady-scented hawthorn flowers, small white butterflies, and cows grazing, before venturing into Stenner Woods, with ponds of tadpoles, moorhens and speckled wood butterflies. The path then led us out for a much needed drink at the Alpine Tea Room.

After our drinks, we continued on our journey, passing through Fletcher Moss Botanical Gardens, situated on a sunny south-facing slope. Within these gardens we found mini waterfalls, rock gardens, ponds containing many reshwater snails, giant rhubarb, exotic and unusual plants, damselflies, and small birds, such as wrens and robins, up in the trees. Following the path out through the gardens and park, under towering horse chestnuts and silver birches, we finally came to the end of our ramble.

Styal Country Park and NT Quarry Bank, Wilmslow

Another great way to venture out in nature is with a furry friend by your side, something I have missed over the last couple of years. So what better way to spend an afternoon than with my friend Emma and her sister’s cockapoo Persy, just outside of the city area of Manchester.

Starting at the Styal Country Park car park, our walk took us through fields perfect for running through, woodland filled with birds and squirrels, and along the banks of the River Bollin. Going at the active pace of Persy, we quickly stumbled upon the National Trust’s Quarry Bank, an old cotton mill first built at the start of the Industrial Revolution in 1784. The factory looking like a flash back in time, also boasts a magnificent walled garden, filled in May with the vibrant colours of rhododendrons, camellias, and borders filled many different species.

We topped off our adventure with a cup of tea in the National Trust cafe, and Persy leading us on our last stretch of walk through the gorges and woodland west of Quarry Bank. With robins, song thrushes, mallard ducks, woodpigeons, blackbirds, mandarin ducks, chiffchaffs, and nuthatches making appearances, among others, it was a great end to an afternoon wild walk.

Chorlton Water Park and the River Mersey, Chorlton

After a lovely dog walk at Styal, Emma and I were excited towards the end of my trip to take Persy on another walk to do some exploring. This time we headed to Chorlton Water Park within the south of the city bounds. An interesting nature reserve, it was formed when gravel was excavated from the site of Barlow Hall Farm for the M60 construction in the 1970s. The remaining pit was flooded, forming a central lake, surrounded by grassland, woodland and the River Mersey. Complete with fishing and pond-dipping platforms, and a play area, this green area is a site for both wildlife and the community alike.

With Persy by our side, Emma and I first took a walk around the lake, taking in the birds on the water framed by willows and yellow flag irises, including Canada geese, mallard ducks, and mute swans all with young. Once we had completed this circuit, we extended our walk by heading east along the River Mersey back to Didsbury. The path was framed by froths of cow parsley and hawthorn, and added to by flitting butterflies, such as orange-tips, and a melodic bird soundtrack of tits, blackbirds, robins, dunnocks, wrens, chiffchaffs, and blackcaps. Though a simple route, it was really lovely to walk within an urban area, but be surrounded by nature and accompanied by wildlife the whole way!

Green Manchester

As a true country mouse and nature lover, when I am on holiday and travelling, I am always looking out for wildlife to discover, and green spaces to explore. So on my recent trip to visit friends and family up north, my time spent with my fellow animal-loving friend Emma was a real joy. City trips and activities were mixed with nature walks and lots of time enjoying being outside in green spaces. This ranged from areas within the city of Manchester, to further afield, such as a fantastic day trip to the Peak District via a 1 hour train.

When it came to being a naturalist in Manchester, the city surprised me with how much it had to offer. With a city-wide focus on providing homes for wildlife and recovering habitat lost within urban areas, you are never too far from a park or green space to escape to. There are also bee hives to be found on rooftops across the city centre, hedgehog highways being created between suburban gardens, new nature reserves being created each year, and much more to excite the urban naturalist. It just goes to show that wherever you live, nature can be accessed and enjoyed by all!

Disclosure: Unmarked photos taken by Emma Rogan