Net Weather Springwatch

[Andy Bown]

I thought this might be an interesting and fun idea for us on NW. The idea was formed when out walking this afternoon in unbroken and warm Spring sunshine (even if there's an E'ly on the way).

My first sightings for this Spring today are....

... Honeybees (lots of them)

... Tortoiseshell butterfly

Both were seen near my house in Westbury.

Feel free to add your own first sightings. Will these species be forced back into hibernation in the next week?

[kentish maid]

I thought this might be an interesting and fun idea for us on NW. The idea was formed when out walking this afternoon in unbroken and warm Spring sunshine (even if there's an E'ly on the way).

My first sightings for this Spring today are....

... Honeybees (lots of them)

... Tortoiseshell butterfly

Both were seen near my house in Westbury.

Feel free to add your own first sightings. Will these species be forced back into hibernation in the next week?

chavs in shorts, flip flops and burberry t-shirts. lets hope we get a cold spell to kill em off, bl**dy pests lol :lol:

[Cloudburst]

I thought this might be an interesting and fun idea for us on NW. The idea was formed when out walking this afternoon in unbroken and warm Spring sunshine (even if there's an E'ly on the way).

My first sightings for this Spring today are....

... Honeybees (lots of them)

... Tortoiseshell butterfly

Both were seen near my house in Westbury.

Feel free to add your own first sightings. Will these species be forced back into hibernation in the next week?

Well i saw the first thundery sky lookalike, whereby theres really low vis, with what appear very large cumulus rising in the gloom, with a faded clear blue sky above it. Ofcourse definetly not thunderstorm producing but if that same sky was in 3 months i would be monitoring those lightninig detectors every second. :lol:

[johnholmes]

Well i saw the first thundery sky lookalike, whereby theres really low vis, with what appear very large cumulus rising in the gloom, with a faded clear blue sky above it. Ofcourse definetly not thunderstorm producing but if that same sky was in 3 months i would be monitoring those lightninig detectors every second. :lol:

not really what Andy was meaning! He is referring to birds, bees, forgs, toads, flowers, bushes etc etc not metoerological happenings? let's just ry and keep it sensible folks.

John

[kar999]

A robin has already built a nest in a bush in the garden and a Song Thrush has been singing his heart out morning and evenings for a couple of weeks now.

[Cloudburst]

not really what Andy was meaning! He is referring to birds, bees, forgs, toads, flowers, bushes etc etc not metoerological happenings? let's just ry and keep it sensible folks.

John

Whats with the attitude mate. :lol:

Sorry Andy my bad, should have read the title first :lol:

erm as for wildlife, i have noticed alot more blackbirds in the past few weeks.

Edited March 15, 2006 by ¤CloudBurst¤

[loretta]

First bit of yellow showing on the minature daffs today also had a green woodpecker digging around in the lawn -( well big blob of yellowy stuff in the middle of the garden!) Kids out playing arguing

Also my pond has defrosted completely for the first time in days

Edited March 15, 2006 by loretta

[Somerset Squall]

A few daffodils have finally opened up, although most are still closed. Saw a few butterflies today, with temps this afternoon reaching 10C.

[johnholmes]

Whats with the attitude mate. :lol:

Sorry Andy my bad, should have read the title first :lol:

erm as for wildlife, i have noticed alot more blackbirds in the past few weeks.

nothing with mine old chap, but it does help IF you read the title before posting. You have admiited you did not.

John

[SnowBear]

Still very winterified here....

Have seen a Robin about with the brightest red breast I think I have seen, a ladybird about 3 weeks ago in the Sage plants, otherwise not much for wildlife reports yet.

Plants,

Forsythia, just got a couple of flowers appearing (was much earlier last year)

Photina Red Robin, getting its new red shoots.

:lol:

[Cloudburst]

erm as for wildlife, i have noticed alot more blackbirds in the past few weeks. :lol:

Theres appears to be a family of them living in thorn bushes (and a mess of vegitation) behind my garden.

Heres a picture i took at sun set tonight:

[Scribbler]

Down here in Taunton -

We have a pair of blackbirds with a nest in a nice thickety lonicera bush.

Two bluetits have taken over a nestbox on one of our trees and since I haven’t seen one of them recently, I suggest that she’s sitting on eggs – or laying them.

In our South-facing, and largish but enclosed garden, daffodils are beginning to bloom. Snowdrops are almost finished. Our bluebells have flower buds but they’ll be a while before they open.

Today’s news

I killed a queen wasp today which was trying to get out of my shed, presumably having hibernated in there over winter.

Also in the warmth today there were several bumble bees around (or just one being very busy).

We have loads of frogspawn (which must have been laid (?) overnight) in our pond and haven’t had any ice on the pond for the last 10 days.

Mowed my lawns for the first time this year – bit muddy but looking better for the trim.

Spring is sprung – but for how long? :lol: :lol:

[frozen_north]

Well spring in Glasgow is still quite far away in my opinion. The most I have seen are the daffodils shoots now above ground. Some have blossomed. But they look quite dead because there not standing up staright and are dark yellow almost brown. I think being buried in the heavy snowfalls of couple of days ago cant be good for them. Also some heather is stating to blossom. Otherwise it still looks like winter out there.

[derby4life]

slightly off topic and I'm soz.....but has anyone else noticed a revival of barn owls...caus I've seen loads of them lately mostly on my journey to work between dudleston heath (nr ellesmere) and shrewsbury I'm seeing them now most mornings around 6.00 am ...and on the way home ....

I've noticed this over the last 18 months

[Andy Bown]

I don't think that's off topic mate. A very interesting and good spot, I would guess that a pair bred and their offspring have bred and now there's a number of pairs in your area .

[Great Plum]

Still winterlike in our garden...

the daffs aren't out yet but I have noticed the tulips are pushing through the gorund now

[Rollo]

Still winterlike in our garden...

the daffs aren't out yet but I have noticed the tulips are pushing through the gorund now

Our minature daffodils are out and the big ones will open I guess when the first warm day arrives, what I hate is for them to come out and then 4 inches of wet snow completely finishes them off. I have to admit that I am ready for spring but I doubt if the old greenie high will take a blind bit of notice of me.

[shuggee]

A few crocuses have started to fully flower on roundabouts etc, but no budding of daffodils yet. Catkins are out. Not seen many flies, and no wasps/bees.

[johnholmes]

my crocuses are almost over; had a few daffs out since I got back from skiing in early February, but the rest are slow to flower. Sun is now out, temp is 6C so it may get the frogs to come out to play! They did briefly a few days ago, including taking one fiDoh a dumb swear filter got the better of me!, must be very shortsided, then disappeared into the mud at the bottom of the pond again

John

[Summer of 95]

First daffodil on Thursday- an amazing 2 months later than last year! Many of them looked ready to bloom by mid-February but then the cold spell held them back.

Also the Severn is well up; covered the bottoms of some trees and only a foot or so below the towpath in Shrewsbury. I have the feeling that March has actually been quite a wet month round these parts; though like many wet Marches a good deal of it has fallen as snow; one reason I like March so much.

[londonsnow]

the daffs appear to have come out in force today. we actually have what feels like a spring afternoon here in sunny london

[Andy H]

daff sarting to come out now, suddenly the lawn looks like it could do with a mow feels nice today if you are out of the wind

[flagpole]

Not technically springwatch - but I saw a fox last night in the grounds of the local hospital (haven't seen one for years) and today I saw a barn owl swooping over the fields.

[frozen_north]

Spring is definatly delayed this year compared to lasts. Look at this website http://www.phenology.org.uk/ and select side by side maps (Middle of the page). This lets you compare the sightings of animals and first cutting of the lawns around the country. By this time last year spring was in full swing.

[Methuselah]

Saw some cherry blossom struggling to come out, in Dundee last Wednesday.