Crop Corner

Last month I said that the weather did not seem to know what it wanted to do and in the intervening weeks it has still not made up it's mind. Despite this, the BBC springwatch website has continued to record the onset of spring with a vengeance. The Hawthorn, traditionally a perennial shrub that flowers in May, hence its colloquial name May Bush, had flowered almost throughout the UK before the month started! By May, most of the breeding bird varieties will have made their nests and will either be sitting on eggs or feeding their young. This means frantic activity from at least one, and often both parents. There are, of course exceptions to this, where one parent is left to fend on their own or the ubiquitous cuckoo who does nothing at all to rear it's young. You will still hear its call though you will seldom see it.