This week the temperature is also touching 13 degrees. Way too hot for the time of year. Forest ranger Frans Kapteijns is regularly asked whether this is not bad for plants and animals. According to him, that’s not too bad, but he calls on people not to feed birds with peanuts and nuts.
“No, the high temperature does not come too early for plants and animals,” Frans emphasizes. “Look, we humans have determined when spring starts, but plants and animals simply adapt to the circumstances. Bees, for example, know that certain flowers and plants are already in bloom, they feel the humidity. The blackthorn, crocuses and hazel are already blooming. There is already nectar, there is already pollen for bees and other insects. Grasses are also starting to grow considerably and the hawthorn is already starting to bud.”
According to Frans, it is a different story for caterpillars. “It is still difficult for caterpillars. For them there needs to be more leaves on the trees.”
Dying with a full stomach
At these temperatures it is important to bring seeds, nuts and peanuts indoors, the forester emphasizes. This seems illogical, because some birds that depend on insects, such as the great tit, eat those seeds and nuts during the winter.
“But as soon as there are insects, their stomachs will now switch to enzymes for eating insects. That’s why this warning: get those peanuts and nuts inside! Because as soon as there are insects, birds no longer have the enzymes in their stomachs to eat insects. to digest those seeds and nuts. Then, when they eat them, they die with a full stomach.”
Typical day
This Monday the temperature will be 10 or 11 degrees, with a moderate wind from the west. According to Johnny Willemsen from Weerplaza, this will be a largely cloudy day. It may rain more often in the afternoon. “But that doesn’t mean much. It won’t be as wet as it was on Sunday.”
We will have similar weather on Tuesday. “Wednesday and Thursday will be wet days, with quite a lot of wind,” he said on Monday morning in the radio program ‘WAKKER!’ on Omroep Brabant. “Certainly on Thursday. The temperature will then rise a little further. It will be 13 degrees on Thursday, a typical day where it is wet but a lot of soft air spreads over the Netherlands.”
The following days the sun will appear more often. “But the temperature is slightly lower: about 9 degrees during the day. With a chance of an occasional shower.”