Nature is a funny old thing gladness and sadness go hand in hand and there’s always a price to pay for beauty. Long before we took the project over there was a willow tree leaning over the line at an alarming angle. For years I have watched this tree and have seen the trunk start to split in half along its length. It has withstood all the fierceness that winter gales could throw at it but eventually the decision was made that, for safety’s sake, it had to come down.

I had seen several varieties of birds nesting within the hollowed trunk, Nuthatch, Tree Creeper, Great Tit, all will now have to find new homes.

So finally this remarkable tree of great character has gone but from its stump will come new life, you may cut a willow down but they are pretty much un -killable, it will rise again.

We have been clearing the hedging which overhangs the field edge alongside the river, this will allow air and light to get into the grass along the edges and promote fresher growth.

A Barn Owl has been seen by several people flitting around in broad daylight on both the new meadow and Earl’s Meadow and a Kestrel has been spending a lot of time there as well. This is now their time for prospecting nesting sites and we hope they’ll move into one of our nest boxes.

A pair of Egrets are also in residence.

How nice to see these residents of the village gracing us with their presence.

Blackthorn is in flower, some dark days of winter are still to come but Spring is edging ever closer