Like the Black-backed Meadow Ants, I feel that winter is finally over. It’s been a long time since my last blog. The ants are busy doing housework, I’m busy checking their nests and enjoying the sight of nature waking up. I walked from Pleinmont to Le Long Cavaleux this morning and the spring flowers are a tonic.
Star of the show is the tiny, exquisite Sand Crocus. One patch was in flower right on the cliff path. You need a sunny day for the flowers to open and even then, they are easy to miss.
Even smaller are the Early forget-me-not. They are coming into flower now and the intense blue of the flowers are spangling banks and path edges on the cliffs.
Scurvy Grass is widespread on the cliffs, thriving in the salt-laden air. It is a good source of vitamin C, hence its name as it was used to treat/prevent scurvy. Probably it wasn’t vey popular as the leaves have a tarry taste – maybe the sailors didn’t mind that. I think this species is Danish Scurvey Grass and is doing well in the UK along roads that have been salted in the winter. Passing cars pickup seeds in the tyres and help to distribute them.
Natural history of the Bailiwick of Guernsey 