The second week in April has been increasingly warm and dry here in the UK and I read from various sources that March was very dry as well if not particularly warm, well it did not feel warm any way.
Today, Sunday I went for a walk with my youngest up to Merrions Wood which is about a 10 minute walk away. As I wandered around I could feel the approach of summer. It is only the early part of April and there are Bluebells in the wood. On the other hand the trees are in general taking there own time about the matter. Though the Sycamore and the Horse Chestnuts are waking up and producing leaves and flowers, the Oak and Beech which predominate are just stirring and you have to look for signs of life.
Standing still and watching and listening in the wood helps catch sight of the birds in the tree tops. Various members of the tit family could be picked out including my favourite, long tailed tits. I would love to get a picture of one of them, but they are too far away and I had my own individualised bird scarer with me who needed some sort of attention.
There are portents of Summer all over the place, yesterday I went to the Forge Mill Lake and on the RSPB part, on one of the posts sat a Common Tern. Whether it was on of the breeding pair from last year or even one of their 3 offspring that flew south last year I have no idea.
On the other hand as a reminder of more recent and colder times there are still large numbers of this winter's visitors. On the lake there were Teal and Shovellers aplenty and a good number of Goosanders, mainly female, which looked ready to depart any time now. I do have the sense that things are moving now and a gear has been changed. Spring has just started and it will not remain as warm as this for long, It is however steps forward and steps back, but th esteps forward are outweighing the steps back.
It is still only the 1st half of April, there is much to happen yet and the anticipation, keeps me interested.
Bed time
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