It doesn't matter hugely that these are the first bluebells of the 2026 spring except if one allows oneself to wonder whether these might be one's last 'first bluebells of spring', at which point they suddenly become rather more important and more worthy of a moment or two's close attention.
I feel so fortunate to be able to have these deep thoughts as I wander the footpaths and tracks around this small village, and to be able to notice the changes as they happen. For example, the rabbits are back in the two extensive pasture fields just above our house, with one or two being visible at any time of day. This rabbit has taken possession of the warren which, last summer, was crowded with rabbits of all ages. It seemed unworried when I approached. Perhaps it is that the buzzards, through a lack of rabbits a month or so ago, have disappeared having, hopefully, found enough rabbit prey elsewhere to raise a family.
While many of the small bird species have almost disappeared from the garden feeders, having much more important things to do in the woods, the blackbirds are back, the males quarrelling while the females gorge on the fat cakes we put out for them. It's evident that they now have young to feed - and if a blackbird is to feed its young it needs a territory which is worth singing about, even if the song is, at times, rather less tuneful than the local song thrush's.
Not that the weather is helping anyone. One minute we're enjoying warm sunshine, the next we're savouring a sharp hailstorm; and today's temperature, if it reaches the giddy heights of yesterday's midday - 7C - is forecast, as the wind goes round into the north, to drop tonight, perhaps below 2C. We might even have a sharp ground frost - in May!
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