Bathed in pollen...

Such a glorious, warm spring day - 18C by mid-afternoon. In the morning Rosie and I went botanising round Tallington, although she seemed less than keen and kept wanting to go back to the car. I think she may have to retire from fieldwork soon...

The village was looking very lovely in the bright sunshine, and it was good to see neatly laid hedges with banks of white and purple sweet violets and golden celandines beneath as well as a herd of beautifully kept Lincoln Red cattle. Butterflies were on the wing, including many brimstones, small tortoiseshells and peacocks.

After lunch it was warm enough to sit in a chair in the garden and relax - pure heaven! I should have been weeding, but I'd rather over-exerted myself on Friday, and strained a muscle, so I was sensible and took it easy. I badly tore a muscle in my lower back in my final year at university, just before the exams and it was one of the most painful things I've had to endure, so I tend to be a bit cautious now.

I spent some time recording the spring butterflies and bees - four species of each around including this tree bumblebee Bombus hypnorum. Also two species of ladybird - one of which was a Scot's pine specialist and must be living on the rather large tree we have at the end of the garden. Our year list is just coming up to 250 taxa - not bad at all.

As dusk fell, we decided to walk down to our local pub for a pre-dinner drink. It was warm enough to go without a coat or cardigan, and Alex went a step further and wore shorts. We sat outside and watched the stars appear, including Sirius and the constellation of Orion. And, rather excitingly, we saw the first bats of the year. I can't wait for more days like this - so welcome after the wet and dreary winter...

I'm sorry I've been absent for a few days. The computer upgrade meant that I couldn't use Lightroom for a while. But it's mostly sorted now and I haven't lost my keywords, which is a huge relief!