After over a week of rather cold weather, with lots of frost and some ice (and the odd light snow shower), today saw the start of something a little milder; not exactly warm, although I opened up the greenhouse to air it while the sun was on it, but above zero and bright and sunny. The improvement in conditions seemed to please the birds, who were rather more sprightly today and more focused on their pairing up. There have been tentative signs of nesting-mindset; I first saw a sparrow about three weeks ago pick up some grass (only to drop it again, as if it realised that it was a bit early to think of nesting), but I've seen them with feathers and other material in the past few days. We have several sparrow nests behind the fascia boards in the roof and in other holes in the stonework, but today one sparrow obviously decided to look for new quarters. Having spotted a potential entrance under the fascia above the guest bedroom window, he squeezed his head in but clearly didn't manage to get any further; but neither could he get his head out again. Luckily D went outside and heard the fluttering as he tried to extricate himself; in the end it took D and a neighbour, with a long ladder and a chisel, to make enough of a hole to free him. He flew off immediately, so with any luck he may have escaped injury or shock; but presumably he'll be more careful where he tries to squeeze into in future!
The other bird highlight of the week was three red kites wheeling over the field behind the garden; apparently a pair seeing off an intruder. We've also had visits from a male bullfinch and a marsh tit, and the food put out on the patio attracted not only the male pied wagtail (a feisty little fellow who isn't averse to taking on the robin) but on one occasion also his mate.
The hellebores are starting to flower, and bulb leaves are coming up in all the right places. The ordinary snowdrops are starting to bloom (just waiting for the doubles now). The forecast is for above-zero temperatures for the next week or so; all it needs is a little more rain to get things going properly.
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