Nature Journal: Week Four & Five

April 16th 2020: 
Looking up at the vivid green of freshly unfurled oak leaves, a white golf ball sized shape caught my eye - looking closer I found it was an oak apple gall suspended on a slender twig. I’ve seen plenty of other galls here but never this kind before even though they are relatively common. Galls are the mysterious looking growths produced by a plant in response to an attack from another organism, in this case a tiny gall wasp. The female lays an egg in a leaf bud on the oak tree and chemicals are released which cause the cells on the host plant to reorganise and deform growth to create a perfect home and food supply for the wasp grub! The variety of plant galls and the complexity of the relationships involved is mind blowing; another reminder of the interconnectivity here in the woods and the whole of nature.

April 21st 2020
A bee-fly, probing a primrose with its pronounced proboscis. Watching these fluffy masters of hovering, you can’t help but imagine how fun it would be to shrink down to the size of a big and hitch a ride 

April 22nd 2020
A fitting end to #earthday2020, treated to a captivating display of purple and gold accompanied by the sound of the first cuckoo here in the woods. 

April 23rd 2020
Luminous freshly unfurled field maple leaves gently waving in the breeze, catching the last light of the setting sun like tiny stained glass ornaments.

April 27th 2020
The cuckoo has been so loud in the woods these last few days. The most welcome sound and one we look forward to hearing every spring.