Seeing the Changes 265

Lots of flowers suddenly out in Loughor and the surrounds! These included the Blue anemone (Anemone appennina), Spanish bluebell (Endymion hispanicus), Spring squill (Scilla verna) and Crab apple (Malus sylvestris). Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) was shooting through into daylight. Also saw my first Common green shield bug (Palomina prasina), Small white (Artogeia rapae) and Plume moths (Agdistis bennetii) of the year. The first casualty chicks of bird breeding attempts were also evident. In Bynea, the Common horsetails (Equisetum arvense) were thrusting through, the Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) was coming into leaf whilst the Red dead nettle (Lamnium purpureum) and the Germander speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys) were into bloom. In that location, a Peacock butterfly (Inachis io) made an appearance and a green caterpillar scuttled across the bridge.