Paired...

If they weren't so common, I think we would appreciated the beauty of mallards far more. In his breeding plumage the male must surely be one of the most stunning British birds. As is fitting for the first day of spring (according to the Met office!) the local birds seem have paired up and will soon be building their nests.

It certainly felt quite spring-like in the sunshine - I spent several hours in the garden this afternoon making a small dent in the weeds, mostly the wood avens which has gone mad! I've generally been pretty busy all day - writing a report of the talk I gave last weekend, having a haircut, doing two loads of washing and entering lots of botanical data.

I'm afraid I'm not being a very good member of the blip community at the moment. Life just keeps getting busier and busier, and I can't see that changing any time soon. But I do try and drop in on your journals when I can, even though my comments are very sparse...