Spring already in nature's step

By Sarah Mukherjee
Environment correspondent, BBC News

"Ne'er cast a clout 'til May is out" - if your parents came from the Midlands or northern England, you were probably sick of hearing that as a teenager, dressed in skimpy but fashionable gear in the middle of winter.

It is one of the hundreds of phrases, fables and bits of folklore woven around the gnarled branches of the hawthorn - or May flower, one of our favourite British species.

There is some dispute about the actual meaning of the phrase but my relatives, who hailed from Lancashire, said it meant you should not start getting your summer wardrobe out until the May blossom is in full bloom.

Well, you would be unlikely to take that advice today if you were walking along the Broadmarsh coastal path near Portsmouth.

Average temperatures have in fact been higher than normal. The wildlife is responding accordingly Dr Kate Lewthwaite Woodland Trust

It looks wonderful, a smoky grey sky which smudges along the horizon, blending with the gentle, pale blue of the sea. Oystercatchers and little egrets are picking around the mudflats. But it is definitely on the chilly side.

And yet, all around, clouds of creamy hawthorn blossoms are in full bloom. For a tree so very associated with May, it seems unusual.

Indeed, traditionally, the arrival of May blossom was a sign of impending summer. The flowers were used to decorate people's homes, a practice known as "bringing home the May", and it was the flower of choice with which to garland the May Queen.

Swallow sightings

"However, on average, in six out of the past 10 years, our volunteers have spotted May blossom in April," said Dr Kate Lewthwaite, manager of the Woodland Trust's Nature's Calendar project.

"Although we may feel like we've had a very cold winter, in fact, it has been a series of cold snaps, and our records suggest that average temperatures have in fact been higher than normal. The wildlife is responding accordingly," she said.

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The effect of the early bloom

And it is not just the hawthorn that is out early. There have also been sightings of swallows over nearby nature reserves, and bees and butterflies are already in evidence.

You may still have the central heating on, but as far as the wildlife is concerned, summer is just around the corner.

And does is matter if the wildlife is out early? Conservationists say it could start to pull threads out of the complex web of British wildlife.

For example, if one species blossoms too early, the insects that depend on it could perish, and in turn the birds and small mammals that feed on the insects could also suffer. But only time will tell as to whether there are long term effects from all this early activity.