A taste of spring…..

Spring has arrived!  Its quite incredible how spring-like it feels here at the moment with the sun shining, a blue sky and a mistle thrush singing in the wood next door.  Other birds have started to sing too – robins, which is natural as they sing through the winter anyway, but dunnocks and great tits too.  There is no doubt that there are territory squabbles going on too especially between the buzzards and the crows around here who tend to occupy the same nest sites.  The other very obvious sign of approaching spring is that the hazel catkins are lengthening by the day.  I tend to bring some inside at this time of year – a little warmth and they burst into bloom and shed pollen everywhere.  A foray into the garden revealed daffodil shoots pushing up under the hedge and a wren, snug in the greenhouse.