In message , David WE Roberts
writes
Hi,

I have noticed that a lot of trees near where I work have catkins on them.

I thought that this was a late winter/early spring thing normally.

Googling suggests that some trees do have catkins in winter but I don't
remember this many in previous years (but then again my memory isn't what
it Thursday?)

Hazel catkins normally shed pollen in late Jan to early Feb in these
parts: yesterday I noticed my neighbour's catkins in full yellow dangle
mode.

I also saw a butterfly zoom part yesterday, which again seems unusual.

It's not unusual for the warmth of a sunny day in winter to wake up
hibernating large butterflies. It's not good for them to waste energy
flying around at this season because the days are too short for them to
find enough food.

Are we seriously out of synchronisation with the seasons?

The annual temperature cycle has always been out of step with the
daylength cycle: the warmest weather in August, coldest in Jan-Feb.

Over the last 30 years spring warmth and winter cold have been arriving
(on average) later and later. Plants need both light and warmth: they
won't grow in spring until it's warm enough, and they stop in autumn
when the days get short and dark. So the effect of this shift is to
shorten the growing season.

And if so, with the frosts starting, is everything in for an unpleasant
shock?


Some things are. Most Red Admiral butterflies that try to hibernate
here as adults will die anyway: they're supposed to migrate to Southern
Europe. The bushes with catkins will be fine because they're wind
pollinated so they only need to synchronise their flowering.

--
Sue ]