Spring is icumen in...

The young lambs may be in the field in front of the house, wearing their plastic 'raincoats' to guard against the rain and cold winds, and the winter thrushes are still feeding on the rough pasture, but the waders are surely responding to the lengthening days, impatient to get back to the hills and the river valleys. A few days ago, thirty six Oystercatchers were gathered by the flood-waters at Yearle Mill, and today a flock of sixteen Lapwings were winging over the sheep field.