Springtime 2010 visits to East Blean Woods  | - Click on the image above to view gallery
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I made several trips to my favourite local wood at East Blean during April. I have been visiting this wood for several years now and I find it interesting to see how different each year is. The hardest winter for 30 years has made a really big difference to when the spring flowers have been at their best this year. When I looked back at last year’s pictures I discovered that I had found the first bluebell coming into flower on the 29th of March; this year it was the 11th of April. The wood at East Blean is well managed and cared for by Kent Wildlife Trust and each winter lots of work goes into coppicing areas of the woodland to encourage the lovely Heath Fritillary butterfly. This winter was no exception: as you leave the car park it soon becomes obvious how much of the Sweet Chestnut has been coppiced in areas where you know the butterflies are likely to be. I was very surprised however to discover an area of mature Beech and Oak trees had been felled well away from the places the butterflies are usually found. It has long been a favourite area of mine close to a pond that dries up in the summer months, and a stream that runs whenever there has been plenty of rain. After this winter I would say that the water table is quite high as areas of the woodland are still waterlogged. It will be very interesting to see just how this area of woodland develops now light can reach the woodland floor, although for now I find it rather sad looking at all the felled trees.
I have made several visits during April and as always the displays of Wood Anemones are the first to delight as a large area of the woodland floor turns white with their flowers. However, because I have been coming here for so many years, it’s hard to take pictures and views I haven’t taken before, although I did try very hard this year to do just that. Because this year everything seemed to be that much slower in coming into flower I don’t think the displays were as good as they were in the last couple of years. And in many places the leaf canopy had filled in before many of the Bluebells had even reached their peak.
In one area near the woodland edge where an area has been cleared of trees in the last couple of years an amazing display of flowers can be seen. In fact on one occasion we counted at least 10 different species. A first for me in these woods was finding an Early Purple Orchid in this area. On one occasion while I was taking pictures here I heard the sound of a bird screeching as it landed in a nest high up in one of the trees and in its claws I could see it had a small bird. I knew it had to be a bird of prey but I wasn’t sure quite which one. With a bit of investigation checking out the RSPB site and listening to the bird call on there I discovered it was in fact a Hobby. I never knew they nested on woodland edges before.
The pictures in the gallery that accompanies this entry have been taken on various visits during the spring and so show how things have progressed
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