SPRING INTO A NEW SEASON

Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s Adam Linnet talks the wonder of our county in spring and species for you to spot

To my mind, spring is by far the best time of the year to be outside. The cold winter weather has subsided and there is a clear road ahead to the hazy days of summer. But, for me, the reason spring is so exciting, is the new life bursting into leaf, flower and song in the Cheshire countryside. The warming of the air and the ground starts to bring changes to our county’s wildlife. Snowdrops will have almost been and gone, but lesser celandine, wood anemone and daffodils will be flowering for a month or two yet. Lesser celandine are one of the easiest flowers to learn to identify. The bright yellow flowers scattered across the woodland floor on sunny days are unmistakable. They tuck their petals back in when the weather turns wet and cold, with the flowers being fully unfurled in full sun, tracking it through the woodland canopy. If you think of Wordsworth, you probably think of him wandering lonely as a cloud and a host of golden daffodils. However, it was the lesser celandine that was his favourite flower, being inspired to write about it in three of his poems.