On Saturday I went into Poor Park woods. I was specifically looking for early signs of spring (ever hopeful.)

I’ve seen snowdrops on the roadside verges but very little else. There’s no birch trees in these woods so I couldn’t test for rising sap. In fact, all in all, I was a little disappointed.

I did notice some Dog’s mercury coming through the woods floor…

… and some early growth on this as yet unidentified vine-type plant.

Looking back at this time last year, there was certainly a lot more going on. It’s not really surprising as only a couple of weeks ago we had a load of snow. Nevertheless, the last few days have been beautiful and sunny, but still with cold nights of –2C and lower.

There was a lot of sign of mammal activity, particularly badger, who seemed to congregate in this one spot. I couldn’t figure out why apart from possibly a territorial scent area that I couldn’t detect.

As last week, I settled down to some scrambled egg for lunch. Even I can do this pretty well. If you crack a few eggs into a Pour and Store bag, add some thinly sliced ham, cheese and onions, take along your favourite frying pan and stove and you’ll have a nice light lunch in no time.

By mid afternoon I’d drawn a blank in finding signs of life in these woods. Despite the bright and sunny day, there was quite a strong, cold, easterly wind.

I sat down to finish off the last of the coffee and noticed a red shape trotting along the main track. He was inquisitive enough to observe me at a distance, and I managed to squeak him in a little closer but he didn’t fall for it entirely and eventually he decided to cut and run.

Mid-week I’ll talk about a great day on the coast today looking for fossils.