Purple Alder buds and male willow flowers bursting with life yesterday in West Sussex at Wakehurst.

Alder

 Alder is monoecious, which means that both male and female flowers are found on the same tree.  More info' at https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/a-z-of-uk-native-trees/alder/

Willows are dioecious (Greek: διοικία "two households") which means that it has distinct male and female individual plants.  Above the male flowers, which are loved by bees but not on this cold day.

Primroses and hybrid polyanthus in West Sussex yesterday.

Primula x polyanthus (Primula vulgaris x P. veris)

Primula vulgaris, Primrose

Purple Toothwort, Lathraea clandestina in West Sussex, High Weald yesterday

 Purple Toothwort, Lathraea clandestina is parasitic on the roots of various trees.  Lathraea is Greek for clandestine: you only see it when it flowers.  It has no chlorophyll, has no green leaves and doesn't photosynthesise.  Bumblebees visit the flowers but none was observed on this day.

See in on the public footpath at TQ331308.
Click https://sussexrambler.blogspot.com/search?q=toothwort
to see other entries from earlier years for this purple toothwort and our native toothwort.

Cuckfield nightlife

O4.15hr and the resident fox is about.

Too bad that the fox was not awake at 07.30 in the morning.  There was a male pheasant right by the fox's den.

The camera was moved to a different part of the garden and recorded no activity in the following night or morning.

Nightlife in a Sussex village -- Cuckfield in the High Weald

This week in my Sussex garden

Robin with caterpillar -- with chicks somewhere perhaps.

Holes in lawns are inevitable when my wildlife garden has so many worms and foxes and badgers.