As luck would have it, I had to attend a training course at our Rainham Marsh nature reserve the other day. Now, you can't visit a place like that without taking a stroll.
Along with a couple of colleagues, we walked along a boardwalk, parallel with the Thames, and within five minutes had seen a pair of water voles, noisily crunching on some reeds. The size of a toddler's football but fluffier than a fluffy thing in the middle of the fluffy season, they were sooooo cute. We went on to see eight or nine of them. I was even luckier and saw a kingfisher skim across the water in front of the newly built Marshland Discovery Zone. It was a soul-lifting walk.
In fact, my soul has had so many uplifting experiences this week that it's in danger of drifting off into space beyond our atmosphere. Another moment crept up on me after Sunday dinner as I sat chatting with family, while looking out the window. Apart from the usual great tits, blackbirds and pigeons, one of the two local jays spent a good ten minutes admiring the nodding daffodils and purple heather that have added more than a hint of spring to my garden.
There are enormous fat bees floating around and so many new shoots and buds on the trees and shrubs. The fact that I don't need bike lights to cycle in to work and that I hesitate to switch them on for the return journey, means the depressingly dark winter is almost over. So, that means baby birds will soon be with us. In Africa, swifts are fattening themselves up ready to migrate here from their wintering grounds. What will they find? Will there be enough food or nesting sites for all these new arrivals?
I can't answer that, but I can predict that lots of people will soon be finding young helpless birds that have either fallen from their nests or have not yet perfected the art of flying. The advice is simple; leave them alone. The parents aren't usually far away. If your heart won't allow you to walk away, put the baby back in its nest or at least somewhere sheltered, off the ground but nearby. Baby birds are supposed to explore beyond the nest and are quite resilient. If you have any queries of this nature, contact our national wildlife enquiries people. Real people on the end of the phone (01767 693 690) with real solutions and answers.