April 2025 Ramsbury Nature Notes by Peter Marren

Oil Beetle

This is the time of year when you note the first awakenings of spring. There was an early spawning of frogs in a friend’s garden pond on 22nd February which happened to be the warmest day of the year so far. They arrived by night in a loud croaking chorus, and a day later had vanished as soon as they appeared, leaving humps of spawn on the water. Unfortunately, the pond later froze over and some of the spawn with it. This is an occupational hazard for frogs. In a dry season the opposite may happen, when their shallow pools dry up. That is why a single frog must produce so much spawn.

On the same day I spotted the first celandines opening on sunny banks, soon followed by the primrose – the prima rosa or ‘first flower’. The tender leaves of Wild Garlic were appearing (the flowers follow in April) and the first dandelions. Did you know there are about 300 different kinds of dandelion? This incredible variation is due to an absence of normal pollination. Instead the dandelion ripens seed without sex, producing clones that are genetically identical to the mother plant. It clearly works because dandelions occur everywhere except on the highest mountains.

By the first days in March many people had seen bright yellow male Brimstone butterflies, still fresh after their long hibernation among the ivy. By mid-March our Wild Daffodils were coming into flower. We have only a few patches of the genuine wild form, although similar types have been planted at Littlecote and elsewhere. The true wild one is smaller and paler than the garden daff, more subtle and, I think, more beautiful, especially in their natural setting of woodland. And on 7th March I received reports of oil beetles, big, black, flightless beetles found on sunny banks where they associate with early bees. Their favourite food is buttercups. If you spot one plodding across the road, do rescue it!