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53

5th Feb. 1943.
Female Salix catkins in back garden undoubtedly open & showing stigma today.  
Mild & wild, with some rain, all day!

9th Feb.
Still mild, but much wind (W) & much rain during last few days, mostly at night.  In afternoon walked to Orwell Bridge & home via Dodder, Palmerston Park & Kenilworth Square.  Forsythia out in several gardens, also two Almond trees in Highfield Road, an elm along the Dodder, while Lilac & Hawthorne buds just green & bursting in several places.
Everything just a month ahead of last year & no wonder!

10th Feb. '43.
Purple Crocus by path to front gate, which had bud well up yesterday, today "in flower", though not actually open as windy & no sun.

12th Feb. '43.
Still milder with gale from W. all night of 11th 12th & well into afternoon of 12th with heavy rain in morning but much hot sun in forenoon & midday, so that at 5.30 P.M. quite a few Helix nemoralis out of hibernation & active in back garden, where one Daffodil & Snowden & Binevenagh Sax. opp. in west border now in flower.


54.

On 14th Feb. the first flower opened on the wild Pink Primrose near the motor house & on 15th the first flowers on Binevenagh Sax. opp. in front garden & Muckanaght plant of same in back garden.

On 17th Feb. took 2.30 bus to Old Bawn & walked up Glenasmole to upper day & a little way up east side of upper lake, where several willows with a few flowers (♂︎) open, as also by road below the lower dam.  Took a ♂︎ Oil Beetle, Meloe proscarabaeus on Foot Bridge over Dodder at Bohernabreena & saw one bunch at primroses on bluff below R.C. Chapel, where nearly all the scrub has been cut for fuel by the cottagers around - much also cut along sides of Glenasmole & by Dublin Corporation in the water works itself & many nice glades destroyed temporarily by branches thrown about here & there.

On 18th - a beautiful sunny day - many hive bees at the ♀︎ Salix cinerea in back garden.

On 20th the first flower of Chionodoxa actually opened in bed along diningroom wall & at N. end of same.  This day at 9 AM. was extraordinarily mild with misty rain earlier & a great number of slugs, Milax sowerbyi, M. gracilis & Arion hortensis seen crawling in the grass in back garden.