Features

A Song of Spring

The poetry of springtime preoccupies Martin Brennan as nature wakes up.

Each season has its own particular appealing characteristics and events with which we associate them. Most people, however, have a special affection for spring, representing as it does re-awakening and renewal after the damp, dull and dreary days of winter. It is nicely described by Shelley as "… the season when the earth upsprings / From slumber, as a shepherd angel's child, / Shadowing its eyes with green and golden wings …" and " … the sun shone and smiled / To see it rise thus joyous from its dreams, / The fresh and radiant Earth. The hoary grove / Waxed green – the flowers burst forth like starry beams; …"

And the latent energy is there in the buds "… screwed and fused, compressed, /neat as a bomb, its casing a dull brown. …" (Valentin Iremonger) only waiting for the right conditions, acting as a catalyst, to release it and create the spectacle of "rack upon rack of leaves all elbowing/ from end to end of every bony wood, …" (W.R. Rodgers).

Increasing light intensity, lengthening days and rising temperatures are among the conditions which stimulate this growth and greening of the landscape. And where better to observe and experience it than in a deciduous wood where three layers of vegetation - ground floor, under storey and canopy - display the phenomena in their various forms. The herbaceous vegetation on the woodland floor blooms early to avail of the short period during which penetrating light allows it to flourish, before the developing canopy of leaves shuts it out, or at least reduces its intensity. Principal among these plants are wood sorrel, wood anemone and wild garlic, presenting drifts of white or pale coloured flowers, which when caught in sunlight intensify the impact. Pale yellow primroses may create pockets or ribbons of contrasting colour around the margins or along banks, and the brighter yellow of the early-flowering lesser celandine still persists, usually in damper pockets, adding to the mosaic. As it unfurls lords and ladies adds form, and colour with its distinctive purple poker. Drifts of wild garlic, or ramsons, spreading into the distance create a spectacle which is enforced by its distinctive smell wafting on the breeze to stimulate the olfactory senses. It flowers from April onwards and is replaced in May, in suitable conditions, by the more spectacular display of bluebells carpeting the woodland floor. Other flowers, which follow later include foxglove, adding to the overall pattern and changing character of the woodland as the seasons proceed. Of course the trees themselves produce their own distinctive displays ranging from the subtly-coloured flowers of ash and oak to the brightly coloured cherry, the flamboyant horse chestnut candles and the pendulous flowers of sycamore.

No poem lovelier than a tree

Leaves developing on the trees clothe the whole wood in fresh layers of green, of varying degrees of intensity. And these leaves, silhouetted against the sky, filter the light to create patterns of form and shape giving atmosphere and movement. Shafts of light illuminate the forest floor. An under storey of shrubs, typically hawthorn, hazel, and holly, also permitted by the light penetrating through the canopy, constitutes the third vegetation layer in deciduous woodland. Blackthorn can be found here too and, like the other species, also grows in hedgerows. It flowers early, usually in March. The five-petalled white blooms develop before the leaves and are quite striking against the bare dark branches. Its floral exhibition, however, is not as spectacular as that of whitethorn which is at its best in May, but only after its leaves have developed.

Metamorphosis

Insects are now becoming active and are essential for pollinating the flowers to ensure production of seed. A vast range of species is involved. Bumblebees are invaluable in this regard, and the queens are emerging from hibernation and establishing new colonies. Queen wasps too, but they are carnivorous. Butterflies are emerging also and caterpillars developing. Being cold-blooded, like other insects, they require sunshine to generate energy, and are thus most evident and active on warm days. Most butterflies have their own specialist host plant species on which they depend. These often vary at the different stages of the matamorphic cycle. The earliest butterfly to appear, having over-wintered as an adult, is the pale-yellow brimstone, which is found along the margins of woodland, and in scrub, where buckthorn, on which its caterpillars rely exclusively, occurs. The adults feed on primrose, knapweed and thistles. This association between plants and fauna has wider implications and is not confined to insects alone. The breeding success of birds such as great tit is dependent upon correct timing of their broods to coincide with the availability of caterpillars feeding on the fresh new leaves of oak. Thus the establishment of vertical food chains, and the wider webs, creating the balance essential for the maintenance and overall health of these ecosystems.

Shelley in springtime

Such joy, as described above by Shelley, is not confined to the world of plants and the visual impact created by them. It is enforced by the aural excitement of the daily dawn chorus delivered to us by songbirds. This performance is repeated, with lesser enthusiasm, each evening before the birds rest in preparation for the next full-scale onslaught in the morning. Woodland once again is an ideal location to experience this uplifting outpouring of song at its best, as many of our sweetest songbirds are concentrated in the arboreal environment.

Typical of this performance is the "… three syllables of melody / Dropped from a blackbird's flute, … Yet sweeter music never touched a heart"

I could not agree more, but its song is not so limited. Ledwidge was referring to the last few notes of a blackbird's song at dusk in London. Its sweet melody at dawn is joined by the full chorus of all songbirds proclaiming their existence and marking territory. And before long "… the whole great hot-lipped ensemble / Of buds and birds, ….Reels in with its ragtime chorus, staggering / The theme of the time, a jam-session's rattle and roar." (Valentin Iremonger)

It can be quite overwhelming, particularly when experienced up close in a diverse and well populated woodland. It slowly fades as the birds concentrate on seeking food to sustain both themselves and the young still in their nests, but not before that important declaration of their continued presence and ownership of the property. And that is what it is all about. Despite the pleasure it imparts and our poetic perceptions of happy birds, it is part of the practical process of reproduction, and survival in the harsh, competitive and ruthless world of nature.

Eggcellent disguise

In birds the urge to breed is controlled by endocrine gland secretion stimulated by environmental conditions, the amount of daylight and possibly temperature. The industrious nature of birds in nest construction is impressive, and displays feats of engineering, and prudent choice of materials resulting in functional nests of varying character and design by which the species can be identified. Some are large untidy structures, others neat and delicate with properties of insulation, flexibility, decoration and camouflage. Eggs display an equally varied functional range of colour, pattern and shape. The innate sense of survival is strong among birds, and so carefully do they go about the process of raising their young, that we are often unaware of the existence or location of the nests until much later, possibly in the autumn, when vegetation dies back to reveal them, often to our amazement almost under our noses.

So much occurs in spring that it is impossible to capture the full import, or almost overwhelming energy of the season. And while Hardy writes of a thrush in wintertime "In full-hearted evensong / Of joy illimited; …fling[ing] his soul / Upon the growing gloom … That I could think there trembled through / His happy good-night air / Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew / And I was unaware" the sentiment is apt. There is a huge feeling of hope in spring represented by all that is new, young and cheerful "like a warrior leaping up/at the summons of the spring … welcoming the newly elected year" (J.M.Plunkett). All about nature appears to rejoice. Frenetic activity and natural exuberance abound and renewal is the order of the day.

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