Spring is definitely in the air even if this article is being written in early the spring blizzards we are currently getting. Himself the pheasant has arrived back in the garden for some late pickings under the main seed feeders. This time he has been joined by five of his wives so the ground (lawn, it should be) at the bottom of the Apple tree is looking like a chicken run again. Once I lift the blinds in the kitchen first thing in the morning the pheasants depart and the newly scarified ground is taken over by the smaller birds who forage for anything to their liking.

In passing I noticed that part of the Village green looked as if it had been attacked by something; a sure sign of badgers looking for worms, beetles, grubs or anything else that take their fancy. Up on the footpath from Stacey's Farm Road to the common we heard the curlews emitting their cry although we did not see them, and the marks of more badgers on the field margins by the footpath.

Driving along the roads in daylight or dark we often see foxes; our daughter commented the other day that the urban foxes she sees in Kingston are not a patch on the healthy looking specimens we catch sight of in the surrounding countryside. Because there are so many urban foxes and they live so close with domestic animals they all probably share a selection of fleas and other bugs.

A Deer and his mate ambled across the road in front of us the other evening at Cutmill. We always slow down if we see one because there is often a second and maybe more following.

I was in our field waiting for the horse trough to fill and saw what I think was a pair of buzzards over the next field along. They were circling, sometimes together sometimes flying towards each other and generally seeming to be very relaxed. I wondered if they were a courting couple. Eventually they started to circle higher and continued to rise until very high indeed and I could see just two specs in the sky still slowly circling and eventually, slowly, wandering off. Having seen the barrage balloon on Hankley when it was there I know it used to be on a 1000 foot cable but these two hawks were considerably higher, an inspired guess being 1500 to 2000 feet.

The other morning a flock of large black birds flew over emitting cawing sounds. As Crows generally do not fly in a flock we decided it must have been some Rooks. There used to be many rookeries when I was young, usually in the very top of the Elm trees that were everywhere. Now it is a rare sight, but encouraging to have seen a flock of them again. I wondered what the difference was between a Rook and a Crow; being suitably inspired I got the 'book of words' out and looked it up. All carrion eaters are Crows, which is a generic name for the family and includes Rooks, Hooded Crows, Jays, Magpies, and the like.

Hawks of various shapes and sizes have been circling over the water meadows just lately as well.

The weather on Friday 4^th April was so warm we didn't have even have coats on while visiting Bird World with our Daughter and grandchildren. This warm spell brought out the hibernating butterflies. We saw a Peacock, which had been hibernating in our shed, and a small tortoiseshell.
The Bumblebees have appeared, flying around a flowering current shrub that is covered with little pink flowers. It looks quite attractive covered in the fresh snowfall on the Sunday. The Bumblebees are the first insects to visit the garden as they can tolerate cooler weather because they have furry bodies to keep them warm. Two days later we had snow blizzards. It must be very confusing for the wildlife.