Spring Markers 2024

I have been recording the flowers out on approximately the same day in March for at least 15 years.With the warm winter, it is not surprising that this year there are more species in bloom at the moment with Cowslips, Plum blossom, Japonica, Comfrey, Alkanet all a couple of weeks ahead of last year. Certainly I have a very large number of wild or naturalised plants already in bloom and attracting insects such this Early Bumblebee, Bombus pratorum on the Mahonia.

RPS Nature Group Outing to Cribb's Meadow

We spent yesterday morning photographing Green-winged Orchids, Cowslips, Water Avens and Adder's Tongue at a new reserve for me. The weather varied from bright sunshine to heavy cloud but did give a great variety of lighting opportunities in addition to the differences in the Orchids coloration and morphology.

Late March Snow

We had quite an early covering of snow this morning to say farewell to March giving us two seasons in one for some pictures of blackthorn blossom and snow falling. The snow thawed and then refroze to give large crystals on the cowslips and other plants in the garden

Cowslip, Lady's Smock and Ransoms

The spring flowers are at their best at the moment so I spent a bit of time over the last few days trying to get shots that give a feeling of their beauty. The first, second and seventh images are focus stacks, the rest single exposures in various light conditions. The Cowslips attract a lot of insects including greenfly in the first image and Bibio flies in the last two.