Total monthly rainfall: 3.5 millimetres, maximum daily rainfall: 3 millimetres (11^th April).

Rain fell on two days of the month and there were 11 days with 100% cloud cover for at least part of the day.

Maximum temperature on the warmest days was 16°C on the 20^th and 24^th. Maximum temperature on the coldest day was 8°C on the 7^th April.

Winds blew from a north-easterly or north-westerly direction for 24 days of the month, and there were 7 days when we had an overnight grass frost and a further 6 with a strong wind-chill.

The unusually cold April weather restricted our new wildflower sightings to only three this month, these being yellow archangel on the 10^th, greater stitchwort on the 13^th, and wood anemone on the 27^th. Together with the 17 species seen so far in the previous months of the year, which brings our total to 20 for the year so far. In addition, the white version of our English bluebells first began to open on April 25^th.

• Brown rust algae on woodland tree Brown rust algae on woodland tree
• Crab apple blossom Crab apple blossom
• Duck egg eaten by a crow Duck egg eaten by a crow
• The old oak and poplar end of April The old oak and poplar end of April
• White English bluebell White English bluebell
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Six species of butterfly were seen this month, although in small numbers. A small tortoiseshell appeared on our gravel drive on a sunny April 4^th, followed by a gap of thirteen days before a cluster of sightings beginning with a speckled wood in sunshine beside our back woodland pond. The 18^th produced an orange tip in the woodland ride. On the 19^th we spotted a comma on a sunny tree trunk by the woodland edge – the third day running that the temperature reached 14°C. The 20^th (warmest day of the month) gave us a green-veined white among the garden wildflowers, while we found a holly blue on some damp mud in a dried-up drainage ditch on the 23^rd.

Moths did not fare so well, with an orange moth found dead indoors to light two months early so indoor-bred – and almost certainly trapped by a spider on April 1^st. A three-week gap then followed until Susan spotted our first green-oak tortrix moth caterpillar dangling from a hornbeam on April 22^nd. No further caterpillars were found this month, which does not bode well for the blue-tits who feed them to their chicks.

Other insects first seen during the month include a white-tailed bumblebee on white deadnettle (8^th April); queen wasp indoors and pond skater on our back woodland pond (20^th April); the crane-fly Tipula maxima among soft rush at the back woodland pond (23^rd April); lesser diving beetle at the back woodland pond, and a large red damselfly on marsh marigold in the small garden pond on the 29^th April.

Information on wild birds is as follows: The female Canada goose went broody on our largest island on April 7^th. We heard the chiffchaff in the wood on the 14^th, and saw the first swallow on the telephone cable on the 18^th – rather late arriving, and all by itself. Our first cuckoo was heard on the 24^th (also rather late), bringing our running total to 24 birds for the year so far. For most of the month, duck eggs were eaten by crows almost daily, and on the 28^th and 29^th wood pigeon eggs were also taken.

Other creatures spotted during the month were a fox in the wood (flushed out by the family dogs on the 3^rd).

Our first mole-hill of the year was found on the garden lawn on the 7^th. We found a small toad beneath a reptile shelter on the 8^th, and a baby slow-worm under another shelter on the 17^th April. Finally, we found a large number of frog tadpoles in the shallows around the lake on the 23^rd, having missed their frogspawn earlier (presumably hidden deeply among rushes to protect against the April frosts).

Among the trees and shrubs, buds began to open on the silver birch on April 2^nd, on goat willow (April 9^th), on the oaks by the 26^th, and on beech by the 28^th. Field maple and silver birch leaves started showing on the 4^th, followed by dog rose on the 6^th, horse chestnut on the 11^th, and wild cherry on the 24^th. Hornbeam showed full spring-green leaf on April 8^th. Finally crab apple showed pink blossom on the 28^th.

Some of the woodland trees have suffered from a tree rust this year which looks rather unsightly but, according to the Woodland Trust website is caused by harmless algae usually on the north side of some trees during winter.