 Willow catkins 4 April 2015 On a bright and sunny morning at Duddon Bridge there were wild daffodils and catkins against a bright blue sky, alder catkins with pendent male catkins and the less familiar female flowers which I hoped to photograph. Beside the rivers of Cumbria grow alder trees. You can trace the course of the RIver Kent (when the river is hidden) if you follow the fringe of alders along its banks. And here beside the River Duddon massed purple catkins open yellow in the spring sunshine. Spring comes later at altitude, climb higher in the fells and you'll find alder catkins in tight purple bud .
 Wheatear on Scout Scar. 19 March 2015 A handful of swallows has reached Britain, no more. Migration is on hold as birds sense barometric pressure that tells of wild weather. Held back by strong north westerly winds that scatter bins and recycling boxes about the neighbourhood.
On a theme of recycling, or a Damascene conversion just in time for Easter, Jeremy Clarkson bids to join the Green Party- so radio 4 announced this morning. Let's remember the date and chuck the foolscap into the recycling bin at noon, with all the discards. Hearing of all those swallows, chiff-chaff and black caps holed up in France, in Europe, I wonder about the vanguard- those hardy wheatear Frances, Michael and I saw on Scout Scar on 19th March. How sleek they looked! Newly arrived from Africa and not a feather out of place.  Thistle with parachute seed-head dispersed by the wind Dark clouds over Scout Scar escarpment. Swallows skimmed low amongst cattle feeding in the pastures below, and they rode a blustery wind which swept them up the cliff edge and before my feet. The Welsh Black cattle grazing the escarpment are here to distribute the flora of limestone grassland, and they’re doing well. Autumn gentian seed in new places, although the buds only open in response to the sun. Flocks of small birds gather at this season and goldfinch rise twittering from thistles.
 Natterjack toad, Epidalea calamita Field Trip to Sandscale Haws, National Trust Reserve on the Duddon estuary. Within sight of Barrow in Furness is the lovely Sandscale Haws reserve. A few families were scattered across Duddon Sands, with a backdrop of the fells. A lovely spot for a day on the beach. We had the dunes to ourselves and what diversity for a naturalist group!
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