The hazel Catkin- Precursor of Spring

A common topic at this time of year is the advent of Spring. Birds, squirrels, field mice, frogs and insects can not only be seen again, but can be seen to be busy. The grass is slowly starting to grow, bulbs are sprouting and for the birches the sap is rising. Its tempting to believe that spring is here, and that soon the leaves will be out. That may be the case in some parts of the UK, but 15 years in Glenlyon have taught me that we will be waiting a while yet.
In the meantime we have a beautiful sylvan green precursor, the Hazel catkin, a important source of food for emerging butterflies and a tricky thing to photograph with a digital camera and a bit of a breeze.
The catkins hang like silk worms or similar, slightly ethereal and very fresh looking against the wintered vegetation. Close up they appear random. From further they are a shifting cloud of green.
These catkins are sometimes eaten by birds as well as insects and combined with the nuts that will be produced later in the year make hazel one of our most important food trees for wildlife. Deer also love to ravage hazel bushes, eating bark, shoots and buds and it can often be this that causes so many hazel to coppice naturally.
So, while we wait for the green of spring to eventually wind its way up the glen, take a look at these hazel catkins. If you look really closely at some point you will the tiny little female pollen receptors open. Their scarlet red colour is very special and vivid, the kind of colour you suspect Dulux will not be featuring on their-colour matching paint adverts anytime soon.