First chiffchaff of spring

I was walking the dog around the paddock at the back of Walls Farm this morning full of the gloom and doom of world events and the rising price of fuel when I was stopped in my tracks. I heard a gentle call that really lifted my spirits.

It was a breezy morning and the wind was rustling the hedge and branches - but there it was, clear as day - two days earlier than I had predicted on New Year’s Day - that the first Chiffchaff would be back singing in the garden when Scotland played Italy in the 6 Nations rugby tournament. That match is on Saturday afternoon (hopefully another opportunity to lift my spirits).

I know that some Chiffs over-winter now in the south of England, but I sort of hoped that this little olive warbler had battled across from north Africa, the Iberian peninsula, through France to end up in my back garden.

It is such a hopeful sign that the world is still turning when there is such a quagmire of doom in the news.

I raised my hand in welcome to the little bird singing his wee heart out high up on a branch above Walls Farm.

The first Chiffchaff of spring