Woodland in Springtime

I love the spring (happy equinox, by the way), and the way the dead looking landscape suddenly catches itself waking, in a profusion of colours, scents and tiny movements. As I type, I can smell the wild garlic being turned into pesto, or garlic bread - who knows. Spring and Autumn are my favourite times of year and perhaps Spring most of all.

On today's gentle stroll through the fields and woodlands we ended up underneath the motorway, howling with fury as the traffic thundered north and south. Underneath, the birds sang out even louder to be heard. It was good to get back onto the woodland again and let the birds and the river sing out freely.

I am a rubbish druid and can't name every plant and tree I encounter, but I think this is a woodland euphorbia being de-nectared by a brown wood ant. And in the extra, a lovely tumble of gaudy headgear that fell to ground in the recent storm; I think it's a black poplar catkin. You might know better though. Almost certainly ;-)