Our coppiced woodland has been taken over by the bright blooms of daffodils! The weather condition this year have been particularly good to the daffodil and these early flowering plants are thriving across the farm, especially in the coppice. Early flowers like daffodils are an important source of nectar for emerging bumblebees and other pollinators. They also put on a fantastic display!
A freshly laid clump of frogspawn.
If you’ve visited our ponds recently you’ll have noticed a very clear sign that Spring may be on its way, frogspawn! Large clumps of spawn have been deposited in our ponds and if you’re lucky you might even be able to spot the adult frogs. We are very happy to see local amphibians using our ponds following our recent work clearing up and planting around the ponds with Froglife.
A frosty platform.
Clumps of spawn.
However, temperatures are still very low overnight and we have certainly not seen the last frost and the ponds occasionally freeze overnight. We even spotted ice on the frogspawn! Many animals must time their behaviour carefully with the start of Spring and we hope the frogs have gotten it right. Let’s hope many of the eggs hatch and many of those tadpoles will survive and grow into adult frogs!
Frogspawn, with a thin covering of ice!
An adult frog in the pond.
