Thank you again, Graham.
Your piece, especially the mention of mozzies, has reminded me of the last few days, especially today.
I have seen mozzies a-plenty, but in April? Never have I seen so many biting flies (mozzies et al) so early in the year. Usually by July they become a nuisance in the evenings, and don't go until the early winter when the nights get cold with frosts. This winter we have had only one proper frost (temp below 0°C) here. Today in my garden I was planting out tomato plants, and I got bitten to pieces during the afternoon. And my garden is not boggy, either. I fear that, due to this mild, if wet, winter, that many pests and plagues have survived through it, instead of being mostly destroyed. How many millions of wasps will we see later, or, perhaps, not so much later? And gardeners will curse the millions of aphids, but perhaps ladybirds are alive in huge numbers too. We are going to see a very strange year. A number of plants are out in full flower that usually flower in late summer, but they have not stopped flowering all winter and are still doing it. Blue Fleabane was by the A13 in full flower in March. Was it early, or late, I wondered? Whichever, it was 6 months adrift. When I saw the size of the plants, it was very clear that they have been in flower all winter. Scentless Mayweed has been the same. Some annuals have grown big and branched, with rather stiff stems, and new shoots at the top, behaving like perennials. Whatever will happen next?
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The weblog below is for naturalists to use to report interesting sightings, ask questions, report on field meetings and generally post pictures and any information or questions generally relevant in some way to the wildlife and geology of Essex. You will need to register and be logged-on to post to the forum, and you need to upload pictures first, for use in posts. Find out more