Several locals spotted unseasonal flowers on pear and apple trees. In most cases it was just a few blossoms, but one very confused, smaller ornamental pear had almost a full spring bloom.

There have also been reports of other species flowering out of season, including guinea flowers, sweet bursaria, native pea and hawthorn bush. What's going on? We're not really sure.

The study of these types of observations is called phenology.

It includes the timing of biological events like spring blossoming, fruit development in summer and leaf colouration in autumn. In animals it can include the timing of migration, hibernation, hatching, and mating.

So what triggered recent blooms? The Bureau of Meteorology's Albury data showed overnight temperatures in March and April were about a degree warmer than average, while day temps were around 1.5 degrees cooler.

We also received about three times the average rainfall in March.

It's unclear which variable or combination of variables triggered the flowering, but it's certainly got us curious.

It's great to see local citizen scientists recording their observations on platforms like iNaturalist.

If you want to notify us of unseasonal observations, email watch.albwod@gmail.com so we can add them to our database.

For information on past observations, visit watch.id.au/local-climate-impacts