Daffodils reminded me it was the day for Wales' Patron Saint while I visited the Lancashire Wildlife Trust reserve at Brockholes. It was a dry chilly morning, some skylarks were already practising their singing above the car park and a couple of hares seemed surprised at seeing visitors so early. I resisted the temptation to twitch the long staying bittern because I was looking for early flowers. In this I was not disappointed. Craving for attention alongside the daffodils were some primroses, cowslips, golden saxifrage and lesser celandine. I am told the reason all these early flowers display yellow is to try to attract the few insects that are around this early in the year. More yellow was noticed on one of the trees where a glorious fungus could not be missed. It was good to see my first yellowhammer of the year especially since this is not a common sight here at Brockholes. Nearby a bird which was losing some yellow on its bill. It was a grey heron, its bill changing to that slight pinkish tinge it has at this time of year. The most important yellow? The sun, encouraging more life to wake up from its winter slumber.
