There may have been signs of spring for a few weeks now: lambs being born, queen bumble bees out and about, Great-crested Grebes eyeing each other up, Cowslips in flower, amorous Toads and a pair of Wigeon at the Wildlife Watchpoint that look very 'together', but for me spring is here when I hear the first singing Willow Warbler, and that moment came this morning as I fed the birds at the Visitor Centre. There is nothing quite like that very sweetly down the musical scale song to say it's time to stop wearing a vest.
In contrast, not many people know that Jim Marshall of Marshall Amplification fame designed and built the first Wren. That is why they go up to 11.
And here is the bird that has built a nest in the Wildlife Watchpoint feeding station screen for the last two years at it once again, photographed yesterday by Lockhart.
Someone turn that bird down !