Not lambs. Better!

A morning spent playing in the garden, the Solent being a bit breezy. This is evidently the magnolia time. Stellata varieties are well out with the tulips just behind; crowding in on the daffodils and primulas that have only had a couple of weeks of spring to themselves. The last week has been particularly mild, bringing on the camellias, launching the bumble bee queens as well as a host of other insects. I was very surprised to find a large slowworm just outside my front door, taking advantage of the slight warmth of the concrete path before slipping into undergrowth when I disturbed her.

We took a short walk to the sea front at Hurst Spit this afternoon and poked our heads above the shingle bank enough to confirm that the decision to not sail had been a wise and well informed one.

Back in the car-park I noticed that the black Skoda in the next bay had a peppering of sulphurous green pollen coating all of its angles and faces. The shape seems more stealth fighter than aesthetically pleasing to me. It must live somewhere under a willow or a hazel hedge. The windscreen wipers had swept the film from the glass and left it as a yellow stripe on the off-side; a colourful addition to the stark outline.

Forest snaps

I may have casually mentioned that I have the option to drive across beautiful countryside on my daily commute and, other than a few special features, such as the custard maple, this has been very much left to the readers' imaginations.

Since I've just adopted a camera and it needed testing, I thought I might correct this lack of visual information in some small way.

This first picture is a bit of a lie because it is taken from about 3 inches off the ground. I'm standing in a bog and the conifer tree is next to a small pond in a dip in front of me. Behind me the silver birch scrub has been cleared to restore the heathland and below the line of trees on the horizon you can see a line of flowering gorse. This is about 200 yards from my normal route.

This chestnut pony was in a small herd of about 10 mares. She looks a bit pregnant to me and will likely foal at the end of May or the beginning of June.

This grey is a particularly hairy individual. She has her winter coat. This picture was taken close to my longer route to work a couple of weeks ago.

This is a striking patch of tussocks on the edge of a marsh I pass regularly. I've been meaning to take a closer look and a photograph for ages. These features are the result of years of colonisation by ants that have created raised mounds in the marshy ground so that they can keep their nests dry. The whole area is closely cropped by ponies and deer and develops a unique and fascinating flora.

Here is a detail of one of the mounds. 

Fire and ..

I saw some butter fly today,
And geese and ducks and gulls at play.
This morning I was on the sea,
The afternoon in forestry.
I work to eat, that is my sorrow,
Or I would do the same tomorrow.