The Tuesday Volunteer Group were on the hill today cutting the gorse. The idea is not to remove all the gorse, but to make inroads into it, making more 'edge' thus creating nesting sites for yellow hammers, stonechats and maybe the redpolls which seem to favour this area, although they probably prefer the birch trees.
After many days of sub zero temperatures it's hard to imagine that for some, spring is in the air. But for several days now, three great spotted woodpeckers have been competing to see who can drum the loudest. One's using the apple tree right outside my bedroom window. The ravens too are showing interest in last years nest site and have been showing off doing their upside down flying routine. They are one of our earliest breeders and will be sitting on eggs by the middle of March.
