April 2012
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May
Posted on 24th April 2012
Arguably the most beautiful month of the year, we are spoilt for choice in May when deciding where to go and enjoy nature. In the early part of the month woodland flowers are superb. All of our woods are different, so that, for example, Wood Forget-me-nots form lovely sky-blue carpets in coppiced areas in Prior’s Coppice, but are absent from Cloud Wood. The latter, however, has huge numbers of Early-purple Orchids, which are much less common in Prior’s. Over in Rutland, Hambleton Wood is our best site to hear the song of the Nightingale, a bird that is sadly on the verge of being lost from Leicestershire and Rutland. May is also the time to see Green-winged Orchids and thousands of Cowslips at both Cribb’s and Merry’s Meadows. Brown’s Hill Quarry holds our largest colony of the Dingy Skipper butterfly, which flies this month with the Grizzled Skipper, both uncommon species. At Ketton Quarry, on a nice morning, we may be lucky to see an Adder basking in the sun, while wetland sites such as Rutland Water and Cossington Meadows are places to see migrant birds in their fresh breeding plumage
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April
Posted on 3rd April 2012
After a long winter when our woodlands are quiet, they burst into life in April. Much depends upon the weather of course, but all being well the sun will shine and the resident birds will sing, their numbers swelled by the arrival of summer migrants. Late April is normally the best time to see carpets of spring flowers such as Bluebell, Red Campion, Early Purple-orchid, Greater Stitchwort and Wood Forget-me-not. The Trust is fortunate to have some very special ancient woodlands, which people can visit and enjoy. A photograph of Bluebells looks terrific, but the experience of being amongst them is something else. The photograph cannot convey the scent of the flowers, the feel of the air on the face, the soft ground beneath the feet or the song of the birds all around. Cloud Wood, Prior’s Coppice, Launde Big Wood, Launde Park Wood, Poultney Wood (Ulverscroft), Burrow Wood (part of Charley Woods) and Great Merrible Wood are all wonderful places to enjoy nature in the spring.’
