Tree creepers and tadploles. March in Cwmsaerbren woods.

 No visit to Cwmsaerbren woods is complete without seeing (and hearing) a robin these days, and my first visit in March was no exception. This cheeky chappie was sitting right by the entrance greeting me with a cheerful song as I past by.

My main objective was to see if there was any frog spawn in the little pool under this tree, that's fast becoming my favourite tree in the woods.

                                            Especially when it's covered in moss and ferns.

And today it was leaning over the pool looking for all the world like a ballet dancer in some kind of spring ballet.

There was lots of frogspawn there all looking lovely and healthy.

It had been a very damp few days, and everything was glistening with water droplets.

And the muted colours made everything feel more like Autumn than spring. 

The wall as you enter the woods has been getting more and more unsafe over the passing months, and it's finally been taken down and rebuilt. I just hope that all the plants I used to see growing at the base of it will come back, it was a great spot for ragwort, angelica, yarrow and hemp agrimony.

A few days later and once again the weather turned very cold and frosty, but the birds didn't seem to mind, there were plenty of robins around and a few dunnocks, all enjoying the seed that someone had kindly scattered around for them.

 

This thrush didn't seem to mind the cold, and he wasn't even put off by me, he posed quite happily for me to get this shot.

The frost was beautiful in the early morning sunlight as I walked up to check on the tadpoles, 

And I certainly wasn't expecting this storm as I was wandering around.

                                                    Or the ice covering the ponds lower down.

The Golden Saxifrage is starting to make an appearance now, and providing excellent ground cover.

                                This great tit was watching my every move as I wandered around.

The highlight of the month for me was definitely seeing this tree creeper, I've never seen one in the woods before so it was a real treat.

It's great to see that work has started on the old brewery site at the entrance to the woods.

                                 Welcome to our woods and the Rhondda skyline are doing a great job of clearing the site.

I've never seen these tiny daffodils in the woods before but it was lovely to see them, a definite sign of spring.

As the weather improved later in the month I did a small circular walk above the woods that it's too wet and muddy to do over the winter.

You can view it here Walk in the woods.

I'd forgotten just how steep this path is, but it was drier than I'd expected, and in pretty good condition.

                                                 Lots of  Turkeytail on the branches 

                                              And the views from up there are beautiful

I made a small detour through another little wood where later in the year I'll hopefully see lots of wild violets. It was lovely to see the holly bushes thriving there.

                                             The Juniper Haircap Moss was also thriving there.

The higher up I got the better the views (of course 😃)

Lots of Colt's foot around, this is always a welcome sight giving a lovely splash of colour.

And as I walked back down into the woods I past the pond so called in to see how the frogspawn was getting on. 

But I got a nice surprise when I saw that most of the frogspawn was gone and had been replaced by tadpoles 😊

And my favourite tree was looking beautiful in the sunshine.

The daffodils had started to appear around the old yew tree by the end of the month.

                                                 And plenty of daisies around now too.

And though March hadn't really come in like a lion (as the saying goes) it certainly went out like a lamb with some lovely sunny days and much warmer temperatures

Spring has definitely sprung!