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Due to very mild temperatures nearly reaching 17°C and sunny conditions, I was able to take my first proper walk through my study areas, though there's not much activity among insects, yet – a handful of carpenter bees and an unidentified smaller bee. My focus thus was reduced to the vegetations.
Despite only the sallows providing a respectable amount of nectar, some early-spring flowers were discovered on new spots in Zone I, mainly blue violets. One cherry plum was particularly prominent in terms of blossom richness and scent.
Bird-wise, blue tits still are the most dominant species, followed by Eurasian jay, sparrow and the common raven. At least one European song thrush was heard and recorded with "Merlin", an app developed by the Cornell University.
All those observations are rather surprising insofar, as other parts of this valley already have seen the first butterflies of this year, alongside a much faster start of the blooming season. I suspect that the forests north from my village, plus the overall denser vegetation of Zone I and Zone III in particular keep the entire area cooler and wetter for much longer, unlike villages only surrounded by large, barren fields – but even some villages much closer to the forests have witnessed a very-early start of the spring season.
Due to David practicing crop rotation, he recently plowed his fields. At this point, I'm unable to tell whether he'll re-plant lacy phacelia, which previously was incredibly popular among insects, or switch to something completely different. OR even keep his fields uncultivated for a year or two. The species composition thus may be vastly different this season, as he only appears to be keeping a very small patch of alfalfa.
I'll keep my eyes on the development of Zone II, of course.