Norfolk Nature |
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March 2011 Believe it or not, spring is here ... at last. Primroses, Lesser celandines, Spring Crocuses and a variety of smaller and less conspicuous wild flowers are starting to brighten the place up, but do not overlook the trees that are now in flower. They may be inconspicuous, but they repay some study. Here the showy male catkins of Alder hang below the much subtler female flowers (the tiny reddish structures). Once fertilised by wind-bourne pollen, the latter will expand into the small wooden 'cones' that are one of the best identification features of an Alder. When I was young all the bird books told me to look for Siskins and Redpolls feeding on Alder cones in stands of trees alongside rivers and streams. Nowadays, however, Redpoll is quite a rare bird and all the Siskins seem to be in my garden, feeding on Niger seed! |