Gimswood

Hopefully the hard frosts are now gone and our late spring is actually here. On my last visit the buds were breaking on most species of trees, somewhat later than might be expected. The surviving snowdrops that the rabbits have left struggled through the frost but at least they were there.

Big Field was and still is wet. Not a place for wheeled vehicles, despite the dry winter. The ponds are low, which is not a good start to what may be a dry summer.

One of the scrapes in Big Field, created to help drain the field at the wet end, has emptied itself. We could not believe it when we found it. Last summer the water level never dropped and still the neighbouring scrape is as full as usual. One of those mysteries we may never solve.

We have been watching out for frogspawn in the scrapes that dry out in Rye Field, but there is nothing. Either the cold spring put off the frogs from mating, or they learnt that it was not a good place for tadpoles. Or, indeed, they just have not got around to it yet!