OPEN-AIK DIARY 



APRIL 



DATE 



1 Red-backed shrikes appear. 



2 Toothwort under elms. Chaffinches still in 



flocks. 



3 Queen wasps. Red deer shed their horns. 



4 Flowers of hedge-mustard, butterbur, pear 



tree. Ring-ousels arrive. Starlings build. 

 Rolling hayfield after brushing it. 



5 Sowing barley. Box-tree flowers. Mullein 



moth. Wliinchat arrives. Lapwing's eggs. 



6 Willow wrens arrive and wood sorrel flowers. 



Hawthorns full of leaf. Blackthorn flowers. 

 Horse chestnut leaves. 



7 Ash tree flowers. Hazel leaves. Flowers of 



birch. Redstart arrives. 



8 Bluebell flowers. Wild ducks lay. 



9 Black-cap sings. Wych-elm flowers. Wood 



strawberry and field madder flower. 



10 Flowers of herb Robert, cherry, early purple 



orchis. 



11 Barn-owl's eggs. Flowers of marsh violet, 



greater stitchwort, red currant, juniper. 



12 Cuckoo sings. House-martin arrives. Young 



rooks and thrushes. 



13 Swallows and sand-martins arrive. Moorhens 



lay. Starlings lay. Flowers of blackthorn, 

 gooseberry, spring water starwort, woodruff, 

 thrift, grey field speedwell. 



14 Leaves of moneywort, stitchwort, dog violet, 



garlic-mustard and wild parsley strong and 

 tall. Flowers of golden saxifrage, alex- 

 anders, field scorpion grass. Brindled 

 beauty moth. Lesser whitethroat arrives. 

 Stone curlews lay. 



15 Long-tailed titmouse's nest finished. White- 



throat arrives. Nightingale sings. Young 

 squirrels. Purple orchis and lesser peri- 

 winkle flowers. 



16 Chafiinch builds. White-throats arrive. 



DATE 



Young kingfishers abroad. Golden plover's 



eggs. Wild cherry flowers. Beech leaves. 

 17 Birch leaves. Pear flowers. Goldcrest lays. 



Yellowhammer builds. Putting up hop 



poles. Flowers of arum. 

 1 8 Dabchick lays. Reed warbler arrives. Plum 



flowers. Flowers of dwarf red rattle. 



19 



21 



22 



Hurdle making. Snipe's eggs. The trilling 

 songs of long-tailed and blue tits abound 

 high in the trees. Red-rattle and bugle 

 flower. 



20 Blackcap sings. Bullfinch builds. Young 

 weasels. Small copper butterflies appear. 

 Flowers of wild service tree. Sycamore 

 leaves. 



Water crowfoot flowers. Lime leaves. Sky- 

 lark's eggs. Emperor moth. 



Coots lay. Wryneck's eggs. Young red 

 deer. Flowers of green field speedwell and 

 meadow grass. 



Ash leaves. Barred woodpecker's eggs. 

 Sedge-warbler sings. Young field-voles. 



Chaffinches lay. Green woodpecker's eggs. 

 Frosted green moth. Wall speedwell 

 flowers. 



Dandelion masses at their best. Flowers of 

 white meadow saxifrage. Wrens build. 

 Dragon-flies abroad. 



Grasshopper warbler heard. Tree pipits 

 arrive. Jackdaw's eggs. Flowers of ger- 

 mander speedwell and meadow foxtail 

 grass. 



Turtle doves coo. Garden warbler arrives. 



Orange-tip butterflies abound. Curlew's eggs. 

 Flowers of medlar and whortle-berry. 



Jay's eggs. Sandpiper arrives. Oak flowers. 



Beech and sycamore in leaf. Hawthorn 

 flowers there is never a year when a small 

 bunch of may on May-day is impossible. 



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