Signs of spring

While lying on the grass admiring the crocuses on Saturday (see last post), I became aware of movement in the nearby leaf litter, which turned out to be this emerging Herald moth. We watched it warm up in preparation for flight, rapidly vibrating its wings and body.

Developing frog spawn photographed on 23 Feb

On Monday, we woke to the sound of quacking Mallards gorging themselves on the mass of developing tadpoles in the lower pond; a duck (we think the same one that has nested with us for the past several years, as she has a characteristic deeper-than-normal quack) and two drakes. We have stretched a net over part of the pond to try and ensure that at least some of the tadpoles stand a fighting chance of making it to the froglet stage..
 
Other signs of the rapidly gathering spring include our first wild daffodils (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) of the year, flowering primroses (Primula vulgaris) and masses of sweet violets (Viola odora) on a sunny south-facing bank. The dawn chorus is really getting going too, with Mistle and Song Thrushes, Blackbird, Dunnock, Robin and Wren setting the early pace, joined a little later by Great, Blue, Coal and Marsh Tits, Chaffinch and Wood Pigeon. Dippers and Grey Wagtails seem to be a permanent fixture around the stream, while late morning today I watched a feeding Goldcrest tumbling through the branches of a goat willow on the edge of the wood.