My Rhondda: April in Treherbert Woods

My Rhondda: April in Treherbert Woods: April has arrived, and although we're now in full lock down with  Covid 19 everyone is still allowed out for exercise once a day, as lo...

April in Treherbert Woods

April has arrived, and although we're now in full lock down with  Covid 19 everyone is still allowed out for exercise once a day, as long as they follow the advice on Social Distancing.

I've been using my exercise period to get out in the woods, I really am incredibly lucky to have these woods on my doorstep.

         The month has started off quite dry and the water flowing under the Pixie Bridge
                                                   has gone down drastically

But although the paths are quite dry there are still a few muddy patches in places

And the branches are still quite bare

                                   And there's still quite a bit of fungus in places if you look for it.

                      But as the month draws on there's much more sunshine and the weather                                                      is warming up nicely, bringing out lots more blossom.
     
                   

With the beautiful blue skies and gorgeous blossom there's more than a hint of spring in the air, it's definitely arrived now

                       The Hawthorn blossom is one of my favourites, it really is beautiful.

As well as the blossom there's more new growth springing up everywhere.

 the Saxifrage is beginning to cover the ground now

 and looks beautiful in the sunshine,

                   And even though the berries are a long way from being ready to pick
                                             the Wimberry bushes are all shooting up.
       

                                      And there are lots of ferns coming through now as well,
                                                             and beginning to unfurl

             
                                         The willow herb is also growing like mad now,
                                          although that won't be flowering for a while yet.

                               And there are new leaves and shoots sprouting up everywhere.

                    My favourite time to go walking in the woods is definitely early morning 
                                               with the sun coming through the trees

                                     And the early morning mist rising over the valley below.

                      Approaching the middle of the month and the weather is still glorious.
                                 Not even any April showers,just blue skies and sunshine,
                                               and the stream is looking very low.
                       And even though the mornings are starting off cold with a slight frost,
                                             by mid morning it's unseasonably warm. 

                 

                                     By the middle of the Month the violets are all blooming.
                                            I've never seen so many, they're glorious.

                 There still isn't a lot of Lesser  Celandine about, but what there is is beautiful.

                                               And there's a lovely patch growing in the
                                                 Welcome To Our Woods camp site

                       

                                            And there are a few little patches of primroses.

               
                                         The gorse is very vibrant in the sunshine, and makes
                                               everything look bright and cheerful

                           And the hoverflies are also enjoying the sunshine and wild flowers

                                        Lots of daisies out now as well looking very cheerful

And a few patches of Tormentil pushing their way up through the grass

                           
                                            but I'm sure there's a lot more to come yet. 

                         And one of my favourite little flowers, even though it's really common
                                                              is Herb Robert.

                                              And I spotted this one solitary white blue-bell.
                                         There were no other blue-bells around, just this one.

Lots of buttercups starting to appear now too, always a welcome sight, and a great place to spot insects.

                                   There are quite a lot of people in the woods during the day
                                        now that people have to stay in their own area,
                                          and workplaces, shops,pubs etc are closed.
                                         So I try to get over there  as early as I can
                                       when there's only the odd dog walker around.

                           And there's still plenty of birdsong coming from the ancient woodland,
                                       although the birds are getting more difficult to spot
                                                           as the leaves come out.

   I've been exploring a few new paths in woods over the last week or two, and stumbled across

this beautiful area just a few minutes walk above my usual patch,

And crossing a little stream I came across this little patch of Marsh Violets. I've never seen them in the woods here before.

And following another circular path above the woods was this patch of Lesser Stitchwort, another first for me in these woods

As well as a few patches of blue-bells

                            This path took me just above the woods, looking down  into Treherbert
                                                  and  the paths I usually walk.

                                   

                                     With some great views out over the mountain.
    While I was walking I could hear the woodpecker knocking and a cuckoo calling, 
                           as well as the  robins and blackbirds that are always singing up here.

The nights are getting much lighter now, and combined with the lovely weather it's meant we've had      some glorious evenings. And I was lucky enough to be in the woods for the full moon .

                                And some beautiful soft evening light coming through the trees.

                   One of my favourite parts of Spring is spotting the butterflies as they arrive.
                                               The first one I saw this year was a Peacock

                                            Closely followed by a speckled wood

                     But the most prolific so far has definitely been the Green-veined White

                       I've been hoping to see some frogs too, but so far just a few tadpoles

                           And the hover flies have been beautiful when they catch the sunlight.

And the Dunnock is obviously doing well, he was looking very plump and well fed.

The last few days of April saw the temperature drop, the wind pick up and a few April showers.

But between the showers the sun shone and the light was still lovely coming through the trees.  

             And the mix of sun and rain caused a huge growth surge, everything suddenly
                                                    became lush and green

                                               The Rowan blossom started to come out

                                                 And the Oak trees started to flower.


             So what started out as quite a dry, bare wintry month ended with some incredible new life,
                               lots of wild flowers, blossom, birdsong and butterflies.


             Roll on May, and hopefully and end to Social Distancing and back to normality.

                                 
                                                             Stay safe all.