After all the doom and gloom in the news, things are beginning to look good in the open air.  The weather is warming during the daylight but still very cold at night and the birds are singing to attract their mates while they hunt around inspecting potential nesting sites for their broods.

I’m waiting for the frog spawn to arrive especially in the puddles on Wet Meadow where the water warms quickly in the sunshine and the tadpoles develop at a rate of knots because of it.  Unfortunately it’s always a fine balance between the weather warming which dries up the puddles and a few showers to replenish them enough for the froglets to leave.

I’ve noticed the bluebells appearing between all the leaf litter in the woods so now is the time to keep walks strictly to the woodland paths so they are not trampled.  The wood anemones always appear before the bluebell flowers but seem to stay hidden for a long time and pop up from nowhere.  The catkins are fattening on the hazel and will later release clouds of their yellow dusty pollen to fertilise the flowers and fat buds are just waiting to release their new leaves on the trees.  Such an exhilarating time of year so if you haven’t been there this year, get those boots on and get going.