
Two days ago I heard my first willow warbler. Now they're calling everywhere. I hear redpoll and I think I catch a single note of linnet which returns from overwintering on the coast to breed here in spring.
There are seasonal specials up here and I look for the red flowers on larch whose structure reminds me of pineapples. I look and look, finding none until I reach Helsington Barrows where they show on a few trees. Some years larch flowers do not appear, I've tried to find out why but have not yet succeeded. I'll ask a forester friend.