I can't believe March has been and gone. It seems no time since Christmas. However, it has been a long and chilly winter this year. Unlike the previous few years where snowfall in my part of the Scottish Borders was a rarity. It is only April though. It is not unheard of to have snow in May - and in one case, we still had snow on the hills in July!
However, the cold weather has not deterred the spring flowers and with the warmer days arriving they look quite magnificent. Daffodils, buttercups, daisies, dog violets and dandelions are all blooming their socks off. The apple blossom is starting to show on the younger trees and the roadside bushes and older trees are showing their first greenery. It is a good excuse to get some sketching in of some of the plants.
Even the insects are having a great time with all those new blooms. I have been seeing bumblebees for the last week and for the last couple of days, butterflies. Small tortoiseshell and even a peacock, which I do not usually see until later in the year. No sign of the orange tips yet though. A variety of beetles and weevils are on the move too, along with the usual flies and the dreaded 'midge'.
Of course, the mammals are visible now too, coming out of their winter hideaways to enjoy those warmer days. Rabbits are the most visible. The fields are full of baby rabbits at the moment. No signs of the bats yet. I have a healthy colony of pipistrelle and long eared bats nearby so no doubt it won't be long until they show up.
The migrant birds are on the wing too. I have noticed an increase in the number of birds in the garden and the greenfinches have come back from their winter sojourn. Now we are just waiting for the swallows, swifts and housemartins. They usually arrive around the 21st of April. We'll see if they are still on time over the weekend.