Bluebell leaves are emerging in the mixed woodland on the slopes above the boathouse at Newmillerdam Country Park but there’s no sign of a herb layer in this conifer plantation above Lawns Dike. These appear to be Corsican Pines, a fast-growing variety of the Black Pine, Pinus nigra var. corsicana, which was a popular choice for forestry in the 1970s, when these were planted.
The wintering wildfowl that we’ve been used to seeing have dispersed and we see just a pair of goosanders standing on the causeway amongst the black-headed gulls with a second red-headed female on the water nearby. Considering that we must now be well into the breeding season, the mallards are looking relaxed this morning.
