Easter in lockdown

The sun shone and brought out the first flowers of marsh violets, tormentil, lady’s smock and wood speedwell.  There were wildlife residents and visitors in the garden pond. At least five palmate newts, a frog, and a beautiful grass snake. A violet oil beetle munching celandines on the way to Leigh Lane from Moorhaven: A walk to Piles…

Leigh Lane and Lud brook

New oak and hazel leaves, holly and blackthorn flowers, and the last few catkins overhead in Leigh Lane. Under foot, bluebells, three speedwells, two violets, and three umbellifers. Yellow dandelions, lesser celandines, and creeping buttercups in Leigh Lane, and gorse and tormentil on the moor. Also in Leigh Lane, pink purslane, herb robert, and campions and white wood…

Shopping

Off to Ivybridge via the moor. This has to be the best walk to the shops. Along Leigh Lane, shade-loving wood sorrel is just opening and there are new marsh violets unfolding in the bogs near the Lud brook. The sunshine brings out the vivid reds, greens and yellows of the moss. The mysterious hole, with some new scratches nearby….

Dartmoor and the coast

 I was excited to see a small patch of marsh violets a month ago near Piles Copse. Now they seem to be on the bank of every stream and ditch on the moor. I don’t remember seeing such a display before.       Tiny but distinctive pink flowers of lousewort are showing through the grass, with the ubiquitous…

Elsewhere in April

Elsewhere in the past couple of weeks, some interesting tiny coastal plants under the viaduct in Bittaford: common scurvygrass (heart-shaped leaves, distinctive spherical seed pods; once used by sailors to prevent scurvy) and Danish scurvygrass (ivy-shaped leaves) come inland where roads are salted. My phone wasn’t quite up to photography on this miniature scale. Thale cress was growing in…