Bumbarrel

We were promised snow, but woke to heavy rain with just a hint of sleet - very disappointing! Over the course of the morning the sky gradually cleared and it turned into a bright and breezy afternoon, perfect for a walk round Ring Haw and Old Sulehay Forest. 

Wildlife was thin on the ground at Ring Haw, though I finally saw my first treecreeper of the year. On my way back up the hill I was surrounded by a very large flock of long-tailed tits feeding on the sallow bushes, and seemingly oblivious to my presence. Such gorgeous little birds - I always think their yellow eyelids look as though they've been applying eye shadow!

I then dropped into Old Sulehay Forest, where the first toothwort was showing at the base of an old coppiced hazel, and a small patch of wood anemone were in flower on a woodbank, though it'll still be a couple of weeks or so before the forest floor is carpeted with them.