Signs of Spring

I can't take snowdrops as a sign of spring as they often appear, as they did this year, in the middle of some awful winter weather. Nor....

....are the daffodils a true sign of the beginning of spring as most, like the snowdrops, are now so artificial. One has to look for plants with which man hasn't fiddled, like.... 

....lesser celandine, a plant considered a weed, to find something which really heralds the coming of spring.

In fact there. are very few celandines around as yet, though another natural indicator of the lengthening days are....

....the catkins, which have been out for some days.

Spring is definitely in the air here, with today's temperature just touching 10C, but this isn't spring as experienced down in England's West Country where I'm told that the butterflies are already on the wing.

There's a small pond at the side of the track that runs up from our house into the forestry and it contains another sure sign of spring, in the form of....

....masses of frog spawn with....

 ....half a dozen frogs working hard to add to it. I do hope that their efforts aren't premature: the forecast is for some cold nights in the days ahead.