I book a trip to Norwich today. It was unseasonably warm and beautifully sunny- the first really lovely springtime day. Along the way I saw not one but 7 Brimstone butterflies! Brimstones have quite large, leaf-shaped wings and hibernate over winter. The males have bright lemon colored wings and the females greenish white-cream wings. Larvae feed on Buckthom and Alder Buckthorn. They always rest with their wings closed. They are widespread as Buckthorn is found on calcareous soils and Alder Buckthorn on moist acid soils. Therefore they are rated as being of “Least Concern" on the GB Red List (2022). From 1976-2019 they've become 22% more abundant but -3% less widely distributed. One possible origin for the word "butterfly" comes from the colour of the male brimstone butterfly.
Blog
I blog about nature in the Norfolk countryside and about my wildlife garden. My blog blends digital photos with an analogue nature journal.
Nature journalling blends nature observation and citizen science with a written diariy or art journal to build a deeper connection with nature and cultivate curiosity, creativity and flow.
Roe Deer
John had an incredible sight of a small group of young Roe deer on his dog walk with Rosa. There were 5 deer altogether: 3 male and 2 females. "Capreolus capreolus” have grey-brown winter fur with a white rump & short antlers. Bucks form territory overlapping females and breed in July/August & uses delayed gestation to time birth for May/June vegetation peak.
Cowslips and Currants
John noticed the first cowslip flower out in our wildflower meadow! He also spotted a vivid pink Flowering Current self-sown in our hedge!
Tenby Daffodils
Narassus obvallaris
Our Tenby daffodils stole a march on spriring as the first were already open at the end of February. They are so bright and cheery they really lift the spirits as winter draws to a close. It tolerates shade well und grows in damp woods and grassland. It is also known as the Lent Lily or Easter Lily and in the language of flowers it symbalises hope, folly and unrequited love. Thought to be native in Wales although this is disputed, and it may be an escapee. Named in 1786 and first recorded in the wild in 1829.
Weather Wheel February 2026
A stronger-than-usual jet stream continued the rain-dominated patten seen last month- but no named storms. Nationally the 9th warmest February on record, (4th warmest for England), also the UK's 4th dullest February!
Winter Hellebores
Helleborus niger or "Christmas rose"
A non-native, winter-flowering, evergreen perennial.
Large, leathery dark green leaves.
Large single white flowers with a mass of golden anthers.
Wildlife gardening value - H. niger will attract pollinating insects. Ours are planted alongside fragrant Sarcococca.
First Snowdrops
The sight of this little harbinger of spring is always so uplifting after the ten longest, darkest weeks surrounding the winter solstice. John spotted the first in flower on the 26th when walking Rosa and the cluster under the Sweet Chestnut is well in bloom in the sunshine today.
Likely first introduced to gardens in the 1500s, they had naturalised by the 1770s, and were then further spread by soldiers returning from the Crimean War.
Their long history means they hold a deep enduring place in our psyche symbolising both death and renewal in our folklore, in particular through their association with the return of Perserhone from Hades.
A New Weather Station And Weather Wheel January 2026
With our 5 year old Davis weather-station failing, it was time to splash out on a new weatherstation. I was excited to find a Bresser "Meteochamp 9-in-1" so I can now also measure light and cloud cover ars well as getting wind measurements again. I discovered "AWEKAS" weather server too - a fun retro data visualisation site based in Austria. It will be interesting to see if there is much difference, though we can't run them side by side to calibrate.
Winter Skies Challenge
A very cold start to 2026 led to some amazing skies and light snowfall, soon followed by Storm Goretti who brought snow in E. of the British Isles but only sleet and rain here. some very low night time temperatures...
Bullfinch and Thrush Visit In Cold Snap
A very cold snap from 4th to 6th January brought a lot of visitor birds into the garden foraging for food, including this song thrush on 5th that I watched work his way along the hedgerow.
On 6th I had my best ever sighting of a male Bullfirich who perched on the hedgrow for some time, occasionally taking a blackberry or ivy fruit or seeds. Overnight on 5th we recorded -8.7°c ! That's the coldest temperature since we first got the weather station in December 2020.
Weather Wheels November and December 2025
I thought it might be interesting to see November and December weather wheels side by side. After a mild start to November temperatures declined steadily into winter proper, punctuated by storm Claudia in November, which brought epic rainfall of 51mm in a day and storm Bram in December .