With cold, grey weather continuing to grip, it's felt like spring would never break through. Unsurprisingly, the frogs, after their brief, exciting appearance, completely vanished from sight. But at 5.30am two days ago, I was sipping my first cup of tea of the day, when suddenly, the sound of croaking reached my ears through the open kitchen window. I rushed outside, but maybe my excited dash disturbed them for I heard nothing more. Yesterday however, I managed to catch a glimpse of a pair embraced together in the shallows. Perhaps this was the same pair seen last week, it's still pretty chilly, but my spirits were raised even higher when I had good views of a female blackcap, flitting about in the ivy just outside the kitchen window. Temperatures are forecast to rise over the weekend, and there's that lovely sence of pre-spring excitment; that given the balm of some warm sunshine, everything will start to happen.
Despite the cold, I've managed to do a little bit of gardening. Yesterday I pruned the roses in the front garden and also gathered up a pile of other prunings left from last autumn. These I then took into the back garden and chopped them up to use as valuable habitat enhancement. Hidden under hedges or placed at the back of borders, "rubbish" such as this can greatly boost the garden's value to wildlife.
Despite the cold, I've managed to do a little bit of gardening. Yesterday I pruned the roses in the front garden and also gathered up a pile of other prunings left from last autumn. These I then took into the back garden and chopped them up to use as valuable habitat enhancement. Hidden under hedges or placed at the back of borders, "rubbish" such as this can greatly boost the garden's value to wildlife.