So….here we go.
It may well be winter now, but the recent spell of mild weather has confused some of our native plants and animals. The Hazel trees at our Wolseley Centre HQ are now starting to show their catkins a little earlier than usual.

Winter is often thought of as a hard time of year to ID plants, but it can be a great time for some species, as the foliage clears away revealing some easy to spot species in hedges and woodlands, including the glossy red berries of Guelder Rose, rose hips on Dog Rose and the black buds and bunches of keys on Ash trees.

There are also some woodland sights that are much harder to see in the greener times of the year, such as Robin’s Pin Cushion (a type of plant gall) and the parasitic Mistletoe.