March 31 2002

Easter Sunday. Well, the daffodills are in full bloom and the bluebells are still working at it. One or two of them have put out a flower but it's still too early for most of them. In the meantime the blackbird has left home and gone to sleep elsewhere. Its definitely that time of year. He has been singing and showing off with little flicks of his wings and upward flicks of his tail for quite some time now and must have met with some degree of success. As I type I can hear him outside singing on top of one of the trees. I suspect that he is not the same blackbird as we had last year and the year before as his song is quite different. He is not alone in the garden however. Twice or three times now in the last few weeks we have had a pair of goldfinches in the back garden. They come and take nuts from the hanging feeder. We don't see goldfinches that often, but Newcastle Ray tells me that he has more goldfinches than sparrows! Recently we have also had some greenfinches. Sparrows are in abundance though I feel that their numbers are down. The robin is very active and so is the wren. There is also a good number of thrushes. Chaffinches are still coming and going, usually in groups of four or five at a time. The magpies are also alive and well. Yesterday I heard a sweet-singing bird high in one of the trees and had a look at him with the binoculars. I think he was a Spotted Flycatcher.