Moody sky morning PJ wander

Today I heard a Song Thrush for the first time this year. I had just asked Toad if he had heard one yet, then he left and there it was singing its head off. It kept going strong for nearly two hours. There has been some blackbird chasing going on too, starlings have appeared at their lookout post on top of a cypress tree, sussing out whether their favourite nesting place under some lead in our roof valley is still an option, and great tits have been conversing loudly for a week or two. Spring cometh slowly but surely to the boggy brae.

Not sure what happened here but I quite like the effect

Old bracken and a fence post

Juxtaposed cypress and an old downy birch trunk.below. The old cypress seems more open this year than I've seen it before. There is more light getting down to the ground among its many trunks. The silver birch spent a lot of its life being cut back by electricity board workers but now is allowed to grow free because the overhead cables have been put underground. This also means I can let a baby oak tree up there do its own thing, always supposing the roe deer don't nibble it into oblivion.

Now I'm off to deal with some young stringy brambles up there before they turn into robust, snaggy ropes of thorns.