March 15th, 1999
Many plants around the grounds are now showing obvious
signs of growth. The illustrations on this page show blackthorn, which is just beginning
to produce its distinctive white flowers in the hedgerows. The flowers always appear
before the leaves and often turn whole sections of hedgerow white. Blackthorn
belongs to the genus prunus and within the gardens a number of ornamental prunus species
and varieties are beginning to bloom. Some of these are much more gaudy than the
blackthorn.
The two species of woodpecker,
green and greater spotted, have been quite noisy recently. The green woodpecker can be
heard calling at all times of the day and at some distance and the greater spotted
woodpeckers are busy drumming early every morning.
The frogs in Great Garden have yet to produce
frogspawn but there is, unfortunately, a large clump in the bottom of another pond which has recently been drained and partially filled in. I am told that
this pond is to be reinstated but it will be too late for the frogs in the present
breeding season.
Small numbers of fieldfares have been present in
the past week but there are still no redwings. The fieldfares should soon be moving back
to Scandinavia but will be replaced at the end of this month or early in April by the
summer visitors, such as willow warblers.
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