A to Z challenge 2023 – D is for . . .
My
theme for this challenge is Nature in all much of her wonderful
diversity. My posts will reflect the fact that I am resident in the south of
England.
All
photographs in this post are the property of the writer
Daffodils
The Latin
name for daffodil is Narcissus. Narcissus was a beautiful young man. When he
caught sight of his reflection in a pool of water, he became so bewitched by
his own beauty that he fell in love with his image. He could not tear his
gaze away and faded away into death. He was then turned into a flower, the
daffodil we know today in its many forms.
The
daffodil is one of the first perennials to flower in Spring and as such is a symbol
of rebirth and hope. Daffodils were introduced to England by the Romans who
thought that the sap had healing powers.
In
England, it is known as the Lent or Lenten lily, because it blooms between Ash
Wednesday and Easter. It is also the symbol of the Marie Curie cancer charity
and is worn throughout March as a sign of support.
It is the
national flower of Wales, and is proudly worn at public events, along with the
leek, which predates it by thousands of years!Victorians
called daffodils the flower of respect and friendship and they are a
traditional gift for tenth wedding anniversaries. Florists often add them to bouquets
as a symbol of faith and happiness. Once upon a time, however, giving someone a
single daffodil was seen as bad luck, and a drooping daffodil signalled death. (Not much hope in my garden, then, as the
dogs gallop around, ‘bending’ many a bloom!)
D is also
for Dunnock (Prunella modularis)
Dunnocks
are small, unobtrusive grey and brown birds. The name dunnock comes from the English
‘dun’ meaning dingy brown or dark-coloured and ‘ock’ meaning small.
They are often
seen alone or with one other on the ground near hedges and low-growing shrubs,
unlike house sparrows, which live in flocks. They are known as Hedge sparrows
because of a passing resemblance to female house sparrows, but their bills are
quite distinct, the sparrow’s beak being broader, for cracking seeds, and the
dunnock’s thin and pointed and more suited to plucking insects from leaves and
twigs.They are very
common throughout the UK in areas of plentiful vegetation. They have a
characteristic habit of flicking their wings, particularly in territorial
disputes, and for this reason are commonly called ‘shufflewings’. Numbers have
dropped by almost a third in the last fifty years and the birds are now on the
amber list of conservation concern.
They eat
insects, spiders, worms and some seeds.
Dunnocks can
copulate more than 100 times a day. The female dunnock will mate with several
males, meaning that chicks within the same brood may have different fathers. Sometimes
two males she has mated with will work together to protect a territory against
rivals and help her to raise her young.
Chicks
may be raised by a single female, or by many females with the help of a male, or
by many females and males together. Although males are not thought to
discriminate between the chicks in a brood, they invest more time in feeding
the young if they have had access to the female and may therefore have impregnated
her.
Their nests
are built low down in a bush or conifer and are constructed of twigs and moss
and lined with feathers or other soft material. The eggs, laid in clutches of
three to five, are blue.
The nests
are often targeted by cuckoos.
Although
they appear quite plain, a closer inspection reveals intricate feather
patterns. It is always a pleasure to see these little birds at home in my
garden.
My final
D is for Deer.
The deer in
our local woodlands are Roe deer (Capreolus
capreolus). They are one of the two truly native deer of the British Isles,
though they are not found in Ireland. The other native deer are the red deer.
Their colouring enables them to blend into the environment. There are two in this photograph.
‘Bambi’, Felix
Salten’s book (1928), was originally about the life of a roe deer.
Roe deer
are about 75 cm tall at the shoulder and weigh up to 25 kg. Their natural lifespan in
the wild averages 10 years.
Their coat colour varies from rusty red in the
summer to slate grey in the winter and both doe and buck have a white rump. The doe’s
white rump is heart-shaped and the buck’s is shaped like a kidney.
Young buck
Roebucks have
three-pointed antlers when they are fully adult and unlike other deer, begin to
regrow them almost immediately after shedding them. Their main diet is grass,
leaves, berries and the shoots of young trees.
The breeding
season or ‘rut’ is from mid-July to August, when bucks battle for the right to
mate with a receptive doe. Roe deer delay the implantation of a fertilised egg
until January to avoid giving birth in harsh winter conditions when food is
scarce, so although gestation is 9 months, the first four months see no growth
followed by five months of developing embryo. The does give birth to two or
three kids in May or June, but many perish shortly after birth, often due to
predation, or during the cold of their first winter.
They are wary and ready to flee at the slightest hint of danger
The best
times to see them are around dawn and dusk when they are feeding. Daytime is
spent hidden from view, ruminating.
Most ruminants have stomachs with four chambers. These allow the animals to digest food without completely chewing it first. Some is brought back up to be chewed again and this is called chewing the cud, commonly observed in cattle.
They are
graceful creatures, able to bound effortlessly over fences and hedges. It is incredible
to see them apparently ‘melt’ into the landscape.
