Green resistance
Leaves are remarkable structures. Look closely, and you’ll see a network of veins, branches among the many small cells that fill the leaf surface. You don’t need a microscope to do it – just a handy patch of sun to backlight the leaves and an eye for homing in on fine detail.
Spring is a great time to appreciate the finer points of leaves, including those of the many kinds of broadleaved trees and bushes. Cherries and hawthorn are two that usually come in to leaf quite early, while birches, oaks and ash stay in bud for longer. Once opened, leaves tend gradually to get more opaque. This is said by some to act as a kind of sunscreen. What is more certain is that the reduction of leafy see-through is linked to resisting leaf-eating insects and their larvae. Toughening up in this way can make oak and birch leaves, for example, less tempting for moth caterpillars to eat.
So, for the full stained-glass window leaf effect in woodland, take a good look before spring is over.
Web tip:
www.esajournals.org/doi/ abs/10.2307/1934037
Ponder a pond
Among the amphibians that breed in late winter and early spring, frogs and toads tend to attract most attention. That’s not too surprising. A pond-load of frogs in full croak is an interesting spectacle, and amorous toads crossing roads can be a noticeable hazard (not least to themselves). Add spawn and tadpoles, fascinating to children and (go on – be honest) equally to most adults, and the frog and toad show could seem like the only amphibian action around. But there can sometimes be more subtle, related creatures in the same waters. Newts, which look like small, water-loving lizards, are good at hiding among pondweed and quick to spot sudden shadow overhead, such as from a passing human. But move slowly and quietly to the edge of a pond and you might see one. Scotland’s commonest is the palmate newt, which is mid- brown and has webbing between its ‘fingers’. Much scarcer is the great crested newt. In full breeding finery, males can look like little, multi-coloured dragons. Surprisingly fiery, some of these shy, cold-blooded water
dwellers.
Web tip:
www.snh.gov.uk/about-scotlands-nature/ species/amphibians-and-reptiles/amphibians/
Some other things to look for in spring:
Skylarks singing over fields; the first young rabbits; woodland flowers; fresh needles on larch trees; bats on the wing at dusk
www.snh.gov.uk
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Spring
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