Spring is coming!

Two frogs having 'fun' in my pond today. Hopefully there will be many more soon.

Catkins in the hedgerows for the last 2 weeks or so, wild daffs out and noticed some primroses in the banks yesterday. Still wonderful drifts of snowdrops around.

Snowing heavily here - but then, I do live in Swiss mountains, so no surprise there Snowdrops and crocus in the garden though...

I have fed my hungry warrior now so he is a happy bunny and watching the Footie .
We are off to Brum tomorrow , a bit of snow forecast and anyone is going to get it , it will most certainly be there .
Still , ce ne fait rein , as I will be seeing my little angels !

Snow forecast here?

Maybe she got stuck on her back and couldn't turn over. It happens to sheep.

We stopped the car once on seeing a ewe with her legs waving in the air. They can die when that happens, so I got out and went over to see if I could roll her over. When she caught sight of me she gave a tremendous heave, rolled away from me and struggled to her feet then galloped away. Didn't think I was that scary.

And the drones die until the queens found new colonies in the spring.

There are little clumps of moss all over my patio. The birds pull it off the roof to use in their nests. The collar doves are, as usual, the most obviously randy of birds.

They mate with the drones. Wear 'em out.

Flowerofthewest isn't it more likely to be a queen at this time of year? Seem to remember they mate in the late summer?

Drone Bumble Bee upside down on pavement an ex drone.

Frogs, we have two frogs so far! normally have around 20 in our small pond. Still time yet.

Yes there was frogspawn. Not easy to spot amongst the bubbly blanket weed.

I certainly did durhamjen blame it on the splinter in my left peter pointer finger.

I presume you mean Bittern, Flower.

Bitter booming at weekend
+

Toad lifting has started with a vengance, Not sure what the toads feel about it!

Just noticed a purple anemone in bloom. I thought they were summer flowers.

My frogs spawned in mid-February last year and got caught out by the weather. They spawned again late March. None yet this year, but I've been out in the car this afternoon and all the local cock pheasants appear to have developed suicidal tendencies. I lost count of how many tried to ram my car and become road kill on a ten mile drive. They only seem to behave quite this recklessly in spring - is this normal?

Clumps of snowdrops now being transplanted 'in the green'. It's quite a long job as there are so many of them. Dwarf daffs are in bloom and the large ones are budding up nicely. Crocuses, aconites, cyclamen and primulas also providing some welcome colour.

The borders are still very wet though so I'm staying off them for a while longer.

Sun's out so I'm sure I can find something to do this afternoon.

Large clumps of daffodils in full bloom here on the Hampshire coast - really heartwarming to see after all the dull grey and wet days. Blossom out on the prunus and hellebores still going strong and the pots of tulips are all well up. Hurrah! {smile]

The frogs' evening chatter and a morning hunting heron are what alert us to frog spawning time.

Apart from knowing from experience that MrB's birthday (17/2) has often been the day when we've first seen frogspawn in our garden pond, both here in Argyll and in Oxfordshire.

If I manage to get gardening this week i will check for frogspawn. Some garden visitors last week said they had heard frogs calling.

As I was driving to the hardware shop I saw a wasp fly by.

Snowdrops are insect pollinated but odd bulbs can be dropped by birds so that's how they pop up in unexpected places. They mostly spread by bulb division.