Sunday presented a window of decent weather. I arrived at 8.15am and drove slowly up the ride. A neighbour had told me where he had seen three female roe deer hanging out. I saw what looked like a pair of long ears amongst a dense area and stopped. Could it just be some leaves? Then it moved and stood up. Yesssss! I’ve waited almost four years to actually see the deer which I know wander around the woods. It stood stock still staring intently at me. Two more stood up and looked too. If I had attempted to get out and take a photo they would have bolted. I just enjoyed the few minutes I had watching them before they sauntered off. A great start to the day.

I was amazed at how much the anenomes had grown since last visit. The floor is a carpet of green now. This is one of the best times of year to see the woods. I fed the birds and as usual they were down within seconds. There was lots of bird calling around, indicating the approach of spring and I heard a chiffchaff for the first time this year. They are a summer visitor – a tiny plain looking bird with the distinctive, repeated chiff-chaff call which gives them their name. The area I have felled recently is recovering nicely, with a profusion of wood anemones and bluebells.

I bought a new mini camping kettle and wanted to try it out. It’s intended more for my days out hiking rather than for the woods. It’s very light and compact and fitted perfectly on the gas stove. It boiled in no time and pours really well. Drinking a nice filter coffee in a springtime woodland, listening to birdcalls and just quietly watching, is my idea of heaven.

One of the jobs on my list was to rebuild my small camping logshed. Where I have my summer campfire, I had made a rough shelter out of an old packing crate to keep some logs dry, close to my fire. It was too small and falling to pieces. Using a wooden pallet for a roof and some sycamore branches for walls, I constructed a new one. The crate is still inside and will be removed and restacked with more logs. A new green tarp will replace the temporary blue one in order to blend in better. The old dustbin (trash can if you are in the USA) is where I keep my bird feed dry. The feeders are just to the left and above it. I was surprised how some of the birds were still nipping in and taking food while I was working there.

I saw this idea somewhere. Using a bird feeder stuffed with natural fibres to provide nesting material for them. It’s a mixture of sheeps’ wool I gathered from a barbed wire fence while out walking, and shredded wool threads from offcuts of our new Herdwick wool lounge carpet. My birds will have the most luxurious nest in the whole woods!

I’ll leave you with this photo of wild primroses which are scattered along my woodland ride edges. Spring is here at last.