Hawthorn in Flower in January

I thought I'd seen it all when I visited my brother in North Norfolk over the Christmas holidays and found a clump of Snowdrops in flower on Boxing Day.; all a bit awkward really as these could not be described as 'the first Snowdrops of 2012', but rather 'the last Snowdrops of 2011'!

Then on the 13th of this month I took a walk along the river bank, from Chorlton to Didsbury, and found eight species of plant in flower. This was a bit unusual - but I told myself that several of these species can be a bit precocious some years.

Then, the day before yesterday (23.01.2012), I found several Hawthorn bushes in flower in a copse, just above the Mersey, near Kingsway. One of the old names for Hawthorn - 'May Blossom' provides a bit of a clue about when Hawthorn should flower.

I could, of course, go on and on and on about 'global warming' (the evidence for which seems pretty convincing to me and will, no doubt, have dire consequences) but I'll spare you and content myself with noting that something very unusual appears to be going on.

Dave Bishop, January 2012