First sightings

[Marianne]

Oh dear rosemary !  Would you not take the carpet off him and maybe put some light material over the hole, like grass cuttings or such ??  Just he wants to get out and is hampered, as you said, by the carpet !?     I know frogs breathe through their skin and also through gills (?) but he will need to come out of that hole ! 

[gavin]

My Ayman dug a 16 spot ladybird out of chickweed bed this afternoon - funny-looking little so-and-so.  Moment of mild panic - is it?   ------------------------- or what is it?

http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/R157632.HTM

All best - Gavin

[Gadfium]

First red squirrel of the year, yesterday... 

Usually have a pair around from mid-late december, maybe the beech mast was better than usual last autumn.  This adult looked in reasonable body condition, and was a very welcome visitor to the bird table.

[Mrs Ava]

Butterflies in the conservatory over the weekend.  They do it every year, masses of them! 

We have newts, sand lizards, slow worms and adders on our allotment.  Just love finding them.

Hedgerows are all in bloom here also.

[GREENWIZARD]

lovely day here in bonny scotland & i saw my first ladybird this morning~oh joy

[Mrs Ava]

Dug up our first slow worm of the season.  Lively little slithery thing he was too!

[Rose.mary]

I have just found out why we have so many toads on our site. Apparently when the Halifax Building Society(as it was then) built its new computer site just on the road from us, they disturbed thousands of these toads, and sensible little things made their way to our allotments.
I can remember it being in the local paper and people stood watch all night at this time of year making sure they did not get run over as they were crossing a busy road to get to their breeding place.
The old timers on this site remember lifting cold frame lids and seeing hundreds of them taking refuge.
Rosemary