Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Spring comes to Ickworth in Geraldine's Walk

Some of you may have read my two previous posts about our recent visit to NT Ickworth. I mentioned that we were on a quest to see snowdrops ...
 

We took the path that snakes its way through the wood that straddles Geraldine's Walk.



It was not long before we saw some catkins (below). I was keen to observe the tiny flowers. You can see one in the photo above. The photo below shows the position of the flower on the branch.


Catkins are always a sign that spring is on the way, but there were other signs, too ...


... such as my first primrose of 2015. The flowers were a bit ragged, but they were there.



The photo below shows a tiny Treecreeper on a huge trunk!


This view of Geraldine's Walk shows fallen leaves and beechmast from autumn, bare branches from winter and a glimmer of spring sunlight.



And here are the snowdrops!


I suspect the Snowdrops below had been decimated by some creature,
but mice and most rodents are not usually attracted to these flowers. 
There were quite a few petals strewn about and a few flower heads and stalks. 



What a perfect place to spend an afternoon in early spring!


There were quite a few Aconites ...


... still wet with dew drops ...


There was a clump of daffodils ...




... and high up in the treetops a rook was busy making a nest.


You can read a littler more about Lady Geraldine's Walk here.



Ickworth is a lovely place to visit in all four seasons.

5 comments:

eileeninmd said...

Everything looks so pretty. I love spring time.. But, we are so far behind here. It is still winter.. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Amanda Peters said...

The snowdrop walk looks lovely, and that is a large tree the Treecreeper is on, seen a lot of Treecreepers this year.
Amanda xx

Anonymous said...

Looks like a lovely place for a springtime walk!

Ragged Robin said...

Beautiful gardens and photos. So lovely to see snowdrops appearing and winter aconites. I haven't seen any of the latter yet but as they are one of my favourites I will try and visit a place where I know they occur :)

I haven't seen a Treecreeper yet this year - I need to get out birding more!

Adam Tilt said...

Spring is definitely on the way. We've got Snowdrops and Daffodils in flower here now.