If a lot of insects are uncertain when to mate and lay eggs, we can expect other life forms to have similar difficulties. This spring, I found lots of plants in flower that had never stopped through the mild wet winter, and many annuals were bushy and very large, as they too had been growing all winter. If insects are also not knowing what to do when, all the rest of the animals of all kinds will be having problems too. And if it is like this in UK, then what about the rest of Europe? What about the rest of the world? The increase of chaotic weather systems is a part of global warming, of course, and the effects are being felt worldwide. But 'warming' sounds pleasant, something to look forward to, but we really should call it global heating, which sounds a lot less comfortable and a lot more scary. Keep watching the insects and the plants, and look for larger changes too. I find it all very unsettling.
Your Forum
This forum has now been more or less replaced by the Club's Facebook page at 
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
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