Sunny weather with temperatures around 15°C (1:08 PM) and weak winds allowed me to conduct my first field trip for this season. Unfortunately I was forced to skip Z II due to a jobless farmer doing... something, like, showing off his ancient tractor that leaks oil.
What made this field trip particularly difficult was my camera – my Canon EOS 700D – suddenly experiencing a range of issues, including SD card errors and not responding at all after re-inserting the battery. But even without those issues, I wouldn't have been able to capture more than those two A. io I ended up photographing. Because of its past patterns, I did not expect A. cardamines making such an early appearance and already being far more prominent than P. rapae. Garlic mustard has not started to grow at this time of the year, making this a highly unusual observation.
With temperatures set to drop sharply after tomorrow, it will be interesting to observe how A. cardamines deals with a short period of freezing nights.