Spring arrived in mid-Dorset last week. On Tuesday evening, swallows appeared for for the first time. On Wednesday, they were joined by housemartins. That evening, the unmistakable sound of an attempted break-in at the back of the house turned out to be a male partridge landing on, and strutting round, a corrugated roof. His mate then set off a security light, to her great surprise. Last year they raised 13 chicks. On Saturday morning, I was fishing for wild and wily brown trout, when a sandpiper flew up from the water’s edge. Plenty of people have been posting lovely Spring pictures. I certainly can’t beat them, but I’ll join them with a few photos from the last few days.

Buds are burstingThe partridges are back, and other birds are out in force  

The spring flowers are at their best 

Baby blackbirds are already fledging

The rooks are pairing up, and nesting in the oaks

The alpacas are enjoying fresh grass and the warmth of the sun (attractive they may be, and useful mowers, but they were looking the wrong way when brains were being handed out to the animal kingdom)

Other seasonal woolly creatures are out and about in the nearby fields

The river is full and running clear   

A sure sign of spring – the first hotair balloon passes overhead

A blazing sunset to end the day…    

…and an early spring moon bright in the sky the following afternoon