At the end of April, I thought I'd had all the bluebells I was going to get, at least in Bristol, but there were a few late surprises in some more sheltered pockets, like this lane at Winterbourne in South Gloucestershire ...
... and also at nearby Monk's Pool Nature Reserve.
There were also cowslips still blooming in one of the meadows on Purdown beneath the BT tower.
Mostly, though, it's been a glorious month of cow parsley and wild garlic, both of which bloom in profusion at Badock's Wood, in the Trym gorge ...
... and in Hermitage Wood, high above the River Frome on Purdown.
Oh, and mustn't forget my favourite whitethorn, here also in Hermitage Wood ...
... and further upstream on the Frome, at Winterbourne Down.
And, of course, lots of other flowers too ...
row 1: cowslip; red campion; yellow mustard; ground ivy; whitethorn x 2; comfrey
row 2: greater stitchwort; wood avens; cuckoo flower (lady's smock); hedge mustard; dog rose; jack-by-the-hedge (garlic mustard); bluebells, yellow archangel, wild garlic; hemlock water dropwort
row 3: horse chestnut, whitethorn and cow parsley; green-winged orchid; rowan; forget-me-not; flag iris; lesser celandine; columbine; elder blossom
row 4: fringe cups; yellow archangel; buttercup and vetch; wood speedwell; wild strawberry; herb Robert; black mustard; alkanet
The squeeze-belly stile leading down to Wickham Glen was also beautifully dressed with cow parsley and alkanet ...
... while downstream at Eastville Park lake, there were cygnets, ducklings, goslings, cootlings and, rather ominously, the local heron.
Where there are lots of flowers, there are insects, but most of them far too flighty for me to take a photo of.
Fungi don't move around much, though there's not a lot about at present:
Good times for hoggin finding, though: last year's leaf litter is gone, mud is no longer an issue, other people are out walking and displacing soil, and spring showers make the ground soft enough to dig bits out:
On Halfpenny Bridge at Snuff Mills
Path at Vassalls Park
There was deep sadness one morning when I was walking at Blaise and found that a favourite tree - a sweet chestnut estimated to be between four and six hundred years old - had fallen in the four weeks since I'd last visited it.
I'd got into the habit of photographing it every time I saw it: above, on the left hand side, is how it looked in November, March and early April.
Nearby in the wood, there was another fallen tree - a beech - blocking the path ...
Nearby in the wood, there was another fallen tree - a beech - blocking the path ...
... and another in the woods at Winterbourne Down. It's been such a year for falling trees, with no signficant wind storms to cause it. I can only assume it's down to extremes of climate - a hot dry summer, followed by a very wet winter, followed by a dry spring.
Other sadnesses: a fallen bluetit and a fallen nest.
More predated bluetit feathers here, along with an (early) moulted great spotted woodpecker tail feather, a goldfinch primary and a tawny owl secondary.
After the loss of one old friend, making the acquaintance of a new one - this magnificent, railing-eating oak in the woods at Bishop's Knoll - was a comfort.
Old Sneed Park nature reserve
Old Sneed Park Lake
After the hurly-burly of spring, Cwtch and I are looking forward to summer, where you can wander along side paths and end up getting lost in woods you know perfectly well all the rest of the year. Bring on the peace of the deep, dark woods.
