Bird-in-a-bush

A bright and breezy spring day, particularly breezy on the Lincoln Edge, where Chris and I spent the day investigating the flora of Hough-on-the-Hill, Caythorpe, Fulbeck and Leadenham churchyards, as well as the village of Boothby Graffoe. 

The snowdrops are now fading, but at Fulbeck and Hough-on-the Hill there were impressive displays of primroses, celandines and crocuses. As well as the common flowers we found a few more unusual garden escapes, the prettiest of which was this Corydalis solida, also known as bird-in-a-bush and fumewort. It seems to prefer the northern part of the county where it grows in fertile, free-draining soils in shade. 

Out of the breeze it felt really warm, and this brought out a range of insects including seven-spot ladybirds, queen wasps, early bees, drone flies and tortoiseshell and brimstone butterflies, the first of the spring. 

We treated ourselves to lunch in the Hare and Hounds at Fulbeck, which I can definitely recommend. We both opted for ploughman's lunches, which were beautifully presented, and not too overwhelmed by bread.

In the evening it was the last indoor meeting of our local wildlife trust group, which turned out to be a great success with a fascinating talk about Castor Haglands NNR, which attracted a large audience. The speaker brought along second-hand natural history books for sale, so we went home significantly poorer!!