David

As the weather warms, more and more insects show themselves. A ladybird suns itself on a leaf.

Magnolia flowers opening from the furry buds on a sunny morning, perhaps a little prematurely when further overnight frosts were still to come.

The lone heron which is sitting out the breeding season away from any heronry, spending a lot of time on the island of the upper pool at Perton. Whenever I visit, it seems to be standing hunched up, with its back pointing in whichever direction the cold wind is coming from.

Spring is definitely on the way when violets start flowering. This one was beside the Railway Walk at Finchfield.

Primroses, one of the first flowers on the woodland floor to come out and grab their place in the sun before the trees put out their leaves above and monopolise the life-giving sunlight. These were in Old Nursery Wood.

I went down to Old Nursery Pond earlier this month to see if I could spot any sign of frog spawn. I couldn’t spot any spawn in the places where the state of the bank let me get close to the water, either there or in Willow Pond.

What I did see – the recent heavy rains had left what looked like a second pond, on the opposite side of the footpath, in one of the clearings in the wood.