Spot the seasonal signs

Blackberries in June and ripe hawthorn and rowan berries in July- it seems that some summer events are early again. The same can be seen with many early autumn events in recent years. So the obvious question is why?

The warm weather and lots of rain is an answer that seems most logical, however it has more to do with early flowering.

The spring events we used to see in late May are now coming into early May and even April. This seems to be shifting all of our seasons forward a little. Whilst there is variation in the dates between years there is a trend emerging. The data for Hawthorn flowering and then ripe fruit shows that the trend in early flowering is matched with a trend in early ripe fruit. This trend seems to be so strong that last year when the weather was cooler and spring was later the fruit ripe data matches this trend with a slightly later date as compared to 2005.

A similar trend is seen across a number of species although it varies in strength.

More data now and in the future will help us to see if this trend continues and whether other species are reacting in the same way. You can help us with this by recording seasonal events. Go to www.naturescalendar.org.uk to find out more.

In the meantime we can just guess at what the average dates for conkers will be. Average flowering this year was just over a week earlier than last year and for the last eight years the conker date has been mid-late September. Take a look when you are out and about and let us know when you see them.