Rangers View - April
Sussex red chicken
April is the month when birds start to make their nests and the chickens on the farm come into full production laying eggs. April derives its name from the Latin “aperire”, a word that described the opening of the leaf. In pagan times, the rebirth of nature was celebrated by honouring the goddess “Eostre”. Centuries later Christian missionaries substituted the ideals of the resurrection of mankind, renaming the festival Easter. There are numerous birds pairing up and building nests, although there are still a few over-wintering redwing and fieldfare in flocks taking advantage of the spring harvest before they move on. As one door shuts another opens with the arrival of the swallow and the cuckoo.
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Field vole
The farmers are busily ploughing and harrowing a number of fields before they sow their crops. At this time of year they have to be especially careful not to over compact their soil, otherwise, with the sudden rain showers, we are likely to get soil erosion problems. In turn, all the pesticides and fertilisers put into the soil, to help the crops grow, end up being washed away into the ditch systems, and then into our rivers. This means the crops no longer have that extra boost they need to grow and the surrounding water systems have become temporarily polluted. This pollution can kill off a great number of invertebrates and affect the populations of our birds and animals. When the soil is filled with earthworms the farmer has got the timing and balance just right because it is a sign that it is good and healthy. Farmers are also advised not to over-stock their fields because this is the beginning of the bird-nesting season and lapwing and skylark may be disturbed. Also, it is advisable to leave field headlands and set-aside uncut, again to give birds a chance to nest. Fruit growers must hope for no hard frosts so that their orchards will be a mass of blossom and then hopefully it will be a good year for fruit.
Cowslip
This April, up on the Downs, look out for the pale yellow flowers of the cowslip (Primula veris). This plant has the other name of "Bunch of Keys" because legend has it that St Peter dropped the keys to Heaven when he was told a duplicate set had been made. These keys landed in Northern Europe and the cowslip, which resembled them, sprang from the ground and has spread ever since.
Dog's mercury
There is a less colourful and pleasant smelling plant that can be found carpeting our woodland floors. It is the dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis). It can be found in the Weald in woodlands and hedge banks too. Originally it was supposed to have been named by the Roman God “Mercury”. However, the part of its name “dog” derives from the belief it wasn’t good for anything except dogs. This in fact cannot be true because any animal, including dogs, would be severely poisoned, if not killed, if it ate too much of this plant. Wild animals seem to sense it as bad and avoid it. However, the unpleasant smell does seem to attract midges that crawl all over it and so help pollinate it.
Moschatel
In the woods many varieties of flowers have come out and with them many varieties of insects and in turn many nest-building birds, which are feeding on the insects. If you wander through woodland at this time of year you may be lucky to see yellow wild daffodils or white wood anemones. However if you look a little harder you may see the much over-looked flower called moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina). The name moschatel refers to the mild musk-like scent it gives off. The Greek name “adoxa” means “without glory” and this refers to the fact it is almost completely green in colour and blends in with the early spring green foliage usually unseen and not noticed. It also has the other name of “Town hall clock” because of the resemblance of this plant having flowers on four sides like a town hall clock but with the added extra flower or “clock face” on the top, making it have the total of five flowers per stem. It is a very unusual plant and well worth a closer inspection, if you find one.
On the heaths keep a look out for the green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris). This beetle is associated with heathland but can be found living in woodland as long as the soil is sandy. It may be one of our prettiest beetles but don’t let that fool you - it is one of the most ferocious ones too. It is a good hunter and with its powerful jaws, it can easily snap shut on ants and caterpillars with deadly regularity. Even as a larva it lives in sandy soils with its jaws at the ready at all times. It is incredibly fast in that it can run 60cm in a second. It has the added advantage of being able to fly making it almost impossible to escape from if you are an unfortunate small insect or caterpillar that gets in its path.
Common lizard
Another creature that takes advantage of the warmer weather and feeds on small insects and spiders is the common lizard (Lacerta vivipara). To be able to feed, these cold blooded reptiles need to warm up in the heat of the sun to bring their temperature up, so they can use their muscles to move. On these early days of spring they need to bask a lot, however, by mid-summer they need little time to bask. By the time winter comes around again it is too cold for them and they need to hibernate. The common lizard can be found in many habitats where they can warm up easily, so they prefer walls, sunny-banks and heathland. April is the month when they court and mate. The young will be born around mid-summer in a few months time. They are predated on by rats, snakes and birds especially kestrels. They have three main ways to prevent being caught. The first is they are generally sandy-brown in colour and this is a very good camouflage colour. Secondly, they can run very fast once they are warmed up, and lastly, they can shed their tail which will start to twitch and wriggle once dropped and hopefully divert the predators attention long enough for the lizard to make a successful escape.
Sallow
In our wetter areas one of the most prominent flowers to be seen beside the water’s edge is the catkin from the willow or Salix family. There are numerous varieties of willows to be seen like the goat willow, sallow, and crack willow just to mention a few, and many hybrids to make it all the more complicated to separate them. Some are well known like the osier for its long pliable branches used in basket making or the cricket-bat willow used for cricket bats.
Out on the ponds and lakes you may see mute swans (Cygnus olor) courting. This bird certainly is not mute when it is angry about something and that is more often than not! Mute swans can be extremely quarrelsome and are often seen bullying the smaller birds on the water showing that they are the bosses. They choose slow-flowing water habitats to build their nests with lots of aquatic vegetation to feed their young cygnets on. If it is a good year, they should be able to bring to adulthood from 5 to 7 cygnets - that is if they don’t get caught by foxes or get run down by fast motorists. A yellow flower that you can see on pond edges and beside streams is the marsh marigold (Caltha palustris). This species has dark green shiny heart-shaped leaves. It is also known as "King Cups" because the old English name for button was "cop" and the flower resembled the kings’ buttons.
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Mute swan
This month, the cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) appears on meadows and along our roadsides. This pretty pink flower is a member of the cress family and prefers wet areas. It also is known as lady's smock because of its resemblance to milkmaid’s smocks in days of old. Towards the end of this month the orange tip butterfly will be seen flying around and this butterfly lays its orange eggs on this plant. If you are lucky you may hear the cuckoo as it arrives from its migratory flight as far away as Africa.
Next month is May and the woodland flora looks its best.
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