I love those wildlife gardening activities that take almost no effort at all - and here's one that after an initial oomph is followed by an absolute riot - of colour!

It all comes from scattering some annual flower seed, which will turn into a bed of colour for you and for pollinating insects.

The result can be this...

or this...

...or this (only without me in it!).

It is incredibly cheap, too. Whereas…

Yesterday, a series of little things happened.

To start with, I noticed for the first time this year that the sky was no longer pitch black when it was time to get up.

At lunchtime I was lured out from my desk by sunshine, and felt its warmth through my clothes.

The crocuses were open; indeed, some of them were wide open, which they only do when they're really relaxed.

Honeybees, bumblebees and even a couple…

With my pond totally ice-bound earlier this week, my visiting Sparrowhawks no longer had their gravelly shallows in which to bathe.

However, clearly desperate for a bathe, this female spotted that the solar fountain in the middle of the frozen pond had spring into life.

Well, this was far too tempting!

I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Rather her than me!