Signs of Spring

What a week we chose for a bit of time off! The weather has been amazing and nature has gone crazy.

A highlight was a trip to Farndale, in the North York Moors NP, where millions of gorgeous wild daffodils carpet the banks of the little river Dove and the woods and fields beside it.

    

Unbelievable (and worrying) to have temperatures of 23c up there in March; it’s rarely that hot in summer.

Another sunny day was spent at Leighton Moss RSPB reserve, where we enjoyed watching all kinds of water birds including a rare visiting glossy ibis, plus marsh harriers. Quite a few butterflies too. But the avocets are still my favourites, so elegant and dainty.

 

This picture was taken with a compact camera at x40 digital zoom, hand held! Not too bad? The birds weren’t still for a moment, and neither were my hands, apparently; this is the only photo where I managed to catch a beak!  

Today it’s cooler but sunny again, and I’ve seen wood anemones, violets, primroses and even bluebells in flower just up the road in Strid Wood, Bolton Abbey. Lovely, but far too early – I think I’d rather savour each stage of spring in turn over a couple of months.