Five signs Spring is here

I’ve been back from Belize for over two weeks now. On March 23rd, the day before we left, I went outside and around the fields, down to the pond. Most of the trees only had buds and there were only a handful of flowers, with the snowdrops having died for another year.

However, on arriving back, it was apparent nature had undergone a tremendous change while we were away. And it’s still getting greener! Here’s a few reasons I know we have reached Spring…

Daffodils in bloom

By now, the daffodils in most of England will have long since died away. But up in Scotland, the seasons take their time to reach us, and by now it’s still high time for the pastel yellow flowers synonymous with Spring.

In fact, it may already be past high time; I’ve already noticed some daffodils drooping and beginning to wilt. Meanwhile, the bluebells are beginning to be seen once again in the woods, as well as the oft-dismissed ‘weeds’, daisies and dandelions.

Resurgent invertebrates

Today I saw the first wasp of the year. I might come across as a bit sad, excited about seeing a wasp. I am actually strongly vespulaphobic, and spend most of the New Year being uneasy about seeing the first one. Yet the first wasp of the year cannot be ignored- it is a sign of the changing seasons. Besides, we need wasps: they provide a valuable service in predating caterpillars, leatherjackets and mayflies, and by keeping their numbers down, avoid a lot of our vegetation being overeaten.

Besides wasps, I’ve also seen a few bees; On Wednesday I saw a common carder and an early bumblebee. I still have yet to see a butterfly though.

The days are getting longer

When I came back home on April 12th, it was light outside at 8pm. By now, it’s still light outside an hour later than that! And the length of the daylight is showing no signs of abating!

Greenery

This is the most famous and supposedly most foolproof telltale marker of Spring comig. Only the elder bushes had leaves out when I left for Belize. Coming back showed such a marked change: the birch catkins were out, and the rowans, hawthornes, sycamores and raspberry plants all had new leaves. If is far  lusher and greener now.

And I’ve saved the best till last… 

Return of the swallows!

On going into Glenalmond on the 19th of April I came across at least 3 pairs of these birds. I’ve grown up with swallows, and its their return, more than anything else, that truly heralds the season of Spring for me.

And on the 21st of April, I could see one of them above the mean entrance to Front Quad, rebuilding its nest. Signs of things to come!

Here’s to Spring, and to Summer just around the corner!

 

 

 

Waders and rotting trees: Tentsmuir

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday 21st of February was my last day of half term. We were all quite eager to spend it together as a family, and decided there was no better place to go than Tentsmuir Beach.

As we set off, just half a kilometre down the road, a red kite flew by us. We see them quite a lot at this time of year actually- they are established in the Almond Hills that surround us, but during winter, the turbulent at best weather often drives them down into the lowlands in search of food. There were more raptors nearer the beach, as we saw two buzzards circling over the Scots Pines.

Tentsmuir is a landscape in succession: the name is given to both the beach and the forest. It is a long, thin strip of sandy beach, which curves around at the end. It is flanked by dunes of marram grass and the odd bush of gorse, alas a much-declining habitat nowadays. And the dunes are being colonised by intrepid (as much as you can call a plant) Scot’s Pines, which are beginning to take root after falling as seeds from the Forestry Commission woodland.

All of which is perfectly natural: habitat gives way to habitat, as it has for millenia. Seeing this forest by the verge of the shore makes me wonder if, in Pre-Bronze Age times, the Caledonian Pine forests would reach to the edge of the land. And if they did, did wolves, bears and wild boar emerge from the woods and bathe in the surf, as elephants and hippos do in the coastal rainforests of Gabon?

I’ll admit, for somewhere so close to me, I am hardly familiar with the Tay Estuary. I  hardly know Dundee at all, and while I am all too familiar with the chilly water and stony beaches of the West Coast, from the countless holidays spent there at Arisaig, but the East, with its sandy beaches and somewhat warmer waters, I scarcely visit. So where I was today was uncharted territory for me.

As I rounded the shore, a flock of ringed plover dashed past, and, far far in the distance, a flock of oystercatcher. I came to a stop at the lagoon, and at the far end 2 black-headed gulls, nondescript in winter plumage, rested placidly on the water, side-by-side with 2 other pairs: one of shelduck, one of goldeneye, along with a greenshank standing alone in the middle of the lagoon, head down, prying the sand underneath. As I walked back the way I came, there came the arrival of a flock of knot, dunlin and  ringed plover down to the rim of the beach to join the oystercatchers, and at the other end of the beach, 10 snow buntings came tumbling down, blown from their normal upland habitat by strong winds.

But by far the most powerful image of that day was the dead, uprooted hulks of Scots Pines, rotting hulks that lay toppled on the beach. I won’t go so far as to say they reminded me  of my own mortality: they didn’t. But there was an eerie presence about them.  Like the sand ships of the Namib Desert, these sculpted tree lying flat in the sand were so seemingly out of place, but simultaneously fitting. And a true thing of beauty too, on this chilly, blustery day on the beach.

 

Colours of autumn

In the last two weeks, I’ve seen a great change in the trees around me. The leaves have been rapidly changing colour!

It’s a well-known phenomenon, but how does it work? Well, the leaves on a tree contain three main substances: anthocyanin, carotenoid and chlorophyll. Of these, chlorophyll is the most plentiful. During Spring and Summer, it’s at work being the main agent of photosynthesis. It’s also what gives a leaf its green colour. At the same time, the veins are distributing water across the leaf- if you didn’t know, plants have veins just as we do- they’re the pale lines running through the leaf.

However, during Autumn, the shorter days mean trees can absorb less light. They can’t see like we can, but they can detect changes to light using a chemical called phytochrome, which is sensitive to red light emitted from the sun (this light is beyond our visibility range). As red light drops in Autumn, less phytochrome is released. The trees take this as a signal to shut down. Chlorophyll is withrawn  from the leaf, leaving carotenoid, which gives off a yellow or orange pigment, but until now has been largely covered by chlorophyll. Some trees also release anthcyanins at this time of year, which give off red pigment. And the sap, which could freeze in cold weather, is withdrawn to other parts of the tree where it is needed more.

I think that’s enough science foe one night. Here’s some photos: