It is hard to pinpoint exactly what marks the arrival of Spring. As the world wakes after the winter shut down, shoots appear, buds form and blossom appears. Insects emerge from hibernation, queen bees bumbling sleepily from flower to flower. The dawn chorus starts to build, woodpeckers drum and birds can be seen checking nest boxes and tree holes. If I get home to find that letters have been pulled from the letter box and strewn over the path, I know that the Great Tits have started to clear their future home of items they do not want. (A bucket has to serve as a letter box for the next few months until their young have fledged). But for me it is catching a glimpse of vivid sulphur yellow as the first Brimstone Butterfly flits across the garden, and the first time that I hear the monotonous two-tone call of the Chiffchaff on his return from Africa that really signify that Spring has arrived.
Many of the items in this week’s newsletter celebrate our natural world, with details of projects that are aiming to preserve it and ways in which everyone can get involved.
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