Threatened Livestock

If the severe flooding over this last winter was not enough, British farming over the last few years has had some serious knocks with B.S.E, Swine Fever, E coli and Salmonella out breaks. However, now a more menacing airborne virus that has brought British Livestock farming to a near standstill. Yes, sadly the Foot and Mouth virus has swept across the British Isles. This has meant the mass slaughter and burning of farm animals. Farmers and owners of any cloven hoofed animal are gripped with fear that this virus will hit them. The government has made it illegal to transport any cloven hoofed livestock anywhere in the country. All the National Parks are closed because of the threat of the virus not only spreading to the sheep, cattle and pigs but to the wild deer herds.

If Foot and Mouth becomes a full-scale epidemic it will affect the whole British meat and dairy industry. It may take years for British farming to recover and some farmers will be forced out of business. Many public meetings have had to be cancelled.

Farmyard protected by barriers of disinfected straw

Hopefully measures will be taken to ensure that this serious virus can never return.

Notices of closure in the countryside

So this may be a good opportunity to look at wildlife 'closer to home', maybe in your garden or nearby you may be lucky to have a number of wild plants coming out into flower. One of the prettiest flowers that symbolise that spring is coming and warmer days are on their way is the Primrose (Primula vulgaris) which means the "first rose".

Primrose (Primula vulgaris)

These pale yellow flowers attract insects that are to be seen and heard on the warmer days. Also the deeper yellow flowers of the Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus filicaria) can be found, with their green heart-shaped leaves, sometimes in masses along banks and under hedgerows.

Colt's-foot (Tussilago farfara)

Another flower to look out for often on the roadside is Colt's-foot (Tussilago farfara). It has flowers similar to those of a Dandelion, but the real key identification point is that their leaves resemble the shape of a horse's hoof, hence its name. Look out in hedgerows for the pure white flowers of the Blackthorn (Prunus vulgaris), these small trees have many sharp thorns on them which many birds find useful as protection when nesting.

Birds are already looking for building material and many have already started building their nests. One of the noisiest nest builders at this time of year are woodpeckers and you may hear the drumming of their beaks as they peck out suitable holes, in old trees that they will nest in. There are three species, the Green (Picus viridis) Woodpecker, Greater spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus major) and the Lesser spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus minor). The last of these is very rarely seen in gardens, as itis a shy bird that prefers old woodland. However the other two species can be seen feeding from bird tables.

Frogspawn, identifiable by its individual jelly sacks.

Maybe if you have a pond you may have heard the croaking at night of the Common Frog or the Common Toad, which sadly are not so common nowadays.

Late February into March is their breeding season and frogspawn and toadspawn maybe seen. The black eggs are laid with a surrounding jelly, which the offspring eat as they first emerge as tadpoles and eventually metamorphose into adults in the summer.

The Brown Hare, known for being 'mad' in March

Toadspawn is easily identified from frogspawn because the eggs appear in long strandsof jelly whereas frogspawn is laid in large clumps and each egg has a sphere of jelly around it.

Finally, look out for the "Mad March Hare" or Brown Hare.If you do happen to see Hares at this time of the year they can be seen boxing at one moment, then chasing one another around the next in an explosion of activity, the Hare's remarkable courtship behaviour.

Next month I will talk about more Spring flowers and April Showers