Rough-stalked Feather-moss

After an early morning frost, the sun shone for most of the day. In the middle of the morning I escaped from drawing vegetation maps and had a short walk round Thorpe Wood. The birds certainly know that spring's here - all sorts were singing, particularly blue tits, great tits, wrens, goldfinches and a single noisy nuthatch. The bluebells are growing strongly now and I saw the first primrose flowering in the wood (though they've been out on the sunny road banks for several weeks).

I spent most of my time hunting for mosses, many of which are at their best at this time of year, with forests of reproductive structures known as sporophytes. This is perhaps one of the commonest mosses in Britain, and is one that you'll almost certainly have growing in your garden or a nearby wood or park. - it can form mats on soil and lawns, but is perhaps most abundant on the trunks and bases of living trees, as well as on fallen logs and branches. It doesn't have many clear distinguishing characters, but at this time of year the roughened seta of the sporophyte is a useful clue to its identity.