Second week of May: Cherry blossoms in Estonia
Text: Kristel Vilbaste
Photos: Arne Ader
Translation: Liis from forum
Cherries blossom.
A month ago the newspapers delighted us with the news that cherries were blossoming in Japan. In the country of the rising sun that is truly a national holiday. Now the festive froth has reached Estonian gardens too.
The four spring signs of the week:
Cowslip yellow,
Nightingale singing,
Orange-tip butterfly
And rainbow.
The most absurd thing last week happened on Wednesday night at half past three ... when a youngish full moon woke me up, and I opened the window. Through the open window a real song duel flowed in – the winner of the 2002 year Eurovision bird song contest, the nightingale, and a quite ordinary homegrown great tit were outsinging each other. And no reason to keep it secret – our yellow-belly was the winner. The rust-rumped singer clicked and whipped at the top of his voice, but that night the tit with his teacher-teacher song beat them all. So finally the nightingale gave up and kept silent, but the following nights his singing was very similar to the rival’s melodies
.
Spawning migration of roaches.
Hatching time
At the moment birds provide most entertainment. A wagtail tiptoes along the stone fence, its nest is somewhere in there. Both starlings sit on their nest as quietly as mice, and the whistling males have suddenly vanished to somewhere. When Aotäht calls out to us from her sandbox, the female starling, who is incubating in the nestbox hanging above it, goes off with grumbling protests, but soon slips back to the eggs again. Mall Värva tells us that her starlings have been quick this year, there were eggshells already on April 30. The warblers sing particularly loudly– chiffchaffs, willow warblers and wood warblers all mark out their nesting territories by singing. Mikk Sarv says that the wood warbler had a neat name earlier –the “siristaja” or chirruping warbler – with that name it is easy to recognise it from its song.
At the moment birds provide most entertainment. A wagtail tiptoes along the stone fence, its nest is somewhere in there. Both starlings sit on their nest as quietly as mice, and the whistling males have suddenly vanished to somewhere. When Aotäht calls out to us from her sandbox, the female starling, who is incubating in the nestbox hanging above it, goes off with grumbling protests, but soon slips back to the eggs again. Mall Värva tells us that her starlings have been quick this year, there were eggshells already on April 30. The warblers sing particularly loudly– chiffchaffs, willow warblers and wood warblers all mark out their nesting territories by singing. Mikk Sarv says that the wood warbler had a neat name earlier –the “siristaja” or chirruping warbler – with that name it is easy to recognise it from its song.
Egg clutch of starling.
A time of yellows
Although the green triumph march goes on, pretty yellow eyes have opened in the pale greenery. The colt’s-foot’s flowering is ending, but the dandelions have opened their sunny wheels everywhere. Ditch edges and water meadows are “frog cabbage” yellow – all marsh marigolds that have managed to get above the spring water flood level have unfurled their five petals. Together with the white wood anemones there are more and more yellow ones. Cowslips flower in the meadow. In the woods lungworts and violets are in flower, and on the lakeshore there are shepherd’s purse and cresses (Barbarea). Road verges are full of the long, beige spring shoots of the field horsetail. It is easy to identify trees now, the still-bare oaks, ashes and aspens stand apart from all others. The first bird-cherry flowers are open.
Although the green triumph march goes on, pretty yellow eyes have opened in the pale greenery. The colt’s-foot’s flowering is ending, but the dandelions have opened their sunny wheels everywhere. Ditch edges and water meadows are “frog cabbage” yellow – all marsh marigolds that have managed to get above the spring water flood level have unfurled their five petals. Together with the white wood anemones there are more and more yellow ones. Cowslips flower in the meadow. In the woods lungworts and violets are in flower, and on the lakeshore there are shepherd’s purse and cresses (Barbarea). Road verges are full of the long, beige spring shoots of the field horsetail. It is easy to identify trees now, the still-bare oaks, ashes and aspens stand apart from all others. The first bird-cherry flowers are open.
The time of yellow flowers is here. Cowslip.
Creepy-crawlies
Mosquitoes are not pressing near yet, but the first swarms are gathering. And butterfly beauty extends its range. Last week the white orange-tip with its orange-coloured wing corners, and the green-veined white butterfly were already flying around. The spring generation of many-coloured tortoiseshells have made their first flying rounds. And, strange, in the birches caterpillars already hang down from thin threads. There is actually already quite a lot of caterpillars in my raspberry beds too. And moths fly around at night – the air was already warm enough last week. I haven’t managed to find any spring mushrooms this year. But as compensation there are huge numbers of fish – on Friday night the breams were splashing in the warm lake water so that their silvery sides gleamed high up in the air.
Mosquitoes are not pressing near yet, but the first swarms are gathering. And butterfly beauty extends its range. Last week the white orange-tip with its orange-coloured wing corners, and the green-veined white butterfly were already flying around. The spring generation of many-coloured tortoiseshells have made their first flying rounds. And, strange, in the birches caterpillars already hang down from thin threads. There is actually already quite a lot of caterpillars in my raspberry beds too. And moths fly around at night – the air was already warm enough last week. I haven’t managed to find any spring mushrooms this year. But as compensation there are huge numbers of fish – on Friday night the breams were splashing in the warm lake water so that their silvery sides gleamed high up in the air.
The orange-tip butterfly.
Cone grill!
The smell of grilled sausages and burnt meat is everywhere outdoors. But try using pine cones instead of bought charcoals for the grill, they give off a good heat, and glowing cones are beautiful.
The smell of grilled sausages and burnt meat is everywhere outdoors. But try using pine cones instead of bought charcoals for the grill, they give off a good heat, and glowing cones are beautiful.
FOR CHILDREN: Dandelion tattoo
Smeared hands and stained clothes are sure headaches for mothers in dandelion flower time. But let’s make a good thing of it. When you have checked with a dandelion under your chin that you have been eating proper Estonian butter – not some transfat-containing spread mix or sweets or ice lollies – then you can press out the sap from the stalk and draw with it on your hand … a sun, your sweetheart’s initials, tricky chemical formulas … Useful yellow sap can be had from the greater celandine, but that is best to keep for getting rid of warts.
Quotation:
Night moths are out flying too!
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