This may seem a bit obvious, but I think that Spring has definitely arrived now. The birds are singing as well as fighting (it is the only time that I have seen a pair of blue tits working together to drive the greenfinches off the seed feeder – and the greenfinches were definitely afraid, very afraid), the blackthorn is flowering and the hawthorn is coming into leaf. However, as if to confirm my suspicions I saw butterflies along the old railway track. First of all a bright yellow Brimstone fluttered past, then I saw a Comma sat by the path, and some other Brimstones, and shortly later a Peacock butterfly, and another Brimstone butterfly. Here are some photos that I prepared earlier, well in my garden last year:
