Despite it being mid-winter, there is still lots to look out for!

Nature often gets ready for spring way before spring arrives. Walking in my local wood yesterday reminded me of this. 

Yew trees are dioecious, meaning that male and female flowers grow on separate trees. The picture below, which I took on my walk, shows a male tree covered in loads of little round flower buds, waiting to burst open in the next few weeks and release masses of pollen into the air. Meanwhile the female flowers on nearby trees will be waiting to intercept some of this pollen as it floats through the air. These will develop over the summer months until eventually they will produce the bright red fruits that we all know.

Also in the centre of the picture you can see the clustered leaf formation of the Yew gall midge (Taxomyia taxi), often known as the Yew artichoke gall - for obvious reasons! I reckon this gall is actually quite common, but suspect it is often overlooked as it so easily passes off as a new growth shoot. 

Inside the gall will be the little orange coloured larvae that can mature after one year, but will very often stay put for two years, hatching eventually in July as an adult flying midge.

So check out your nearby Yew trees - there is always something happening in every month of the year.

A Yew artichoke gall (centre) surrounded by male flowers on a Yew tree, waiting to open in a month or so, in order to release loads of pollen