Of holes and flowers

             Recently,  I have been noticing more small round holes along the sandier tracks of Crow Wood. Each is surrounded by a neat pile of spoil, suggesting that they are fresh diggings. I have never seen any insect going in or coming out of the hole in the middle so I am not clear on the exact species but do know that they are a variety of mining bee. One day I will sit and watch a hole to see if I can identify the actual culprit as there are several kinds that could be responsible.......I like putting names to the things I see.

           Elsewhere birds are making holes. A faint tapping heard yesterday on a visit led me to a Great Spotted Woodpecker excavating a nest in a long dead pine tree. We have at least one pair nest in the wood every year. Blue Tits are occupying some of the nest boxes too now and on a large oak a Nuthatch pair has taken up residence in a box put up last year. Nuthatches are a curious bunch. They have a strange obsession with security and its not enough to be raising a family in a box made of a tough material called "Woodcrete", the pair go to considerable lengths to seal any gaps with mud they have collected. It is a behaviour that most members of this world-wide family have in common. It must serve some ancient evolutionary purpose. I have watched Eastern Rock Nuthatches in Georgia do exactly the same; there sealing up crevices in cliffside homes to leave just a perfectly-sized round entrance hole.

          It has been a warm but dry spring so far and most of the early woodland plants are flowering well. Our Bluebells are just beginning to open but they will not be at their peak for three or four weeks yet. Elsewhere the Primroses have put on a dazzling display, there are the usual Violets, Wood Anemones and the stunning flower spikes of Early Purple Orchids........the wood is looking fabulous. 

woodpecker taking a break from chopping out a cavity

Violets

Primrose with a Bee-fly visitor (they look like mice )

one of the very first Bluebells, a sign of glories to come

Wood Anemone

Early Purple orchid.....one of ten flower spikes this year

The nest box being sealed by the Nuthatch pair for added security

evidence of mining bees along the track.......