Never mind Summer - Spring is nearly here.

A late start at work today allowed an safari adventure in to the garden at Base Camp, somewhere I haven't been during daylight hours for some time.

On the pretext of going out to prune the roses I had to pass the pond and there in the thickest part of the vegetation were two blobs of Frog spawn.

In previous years I have heard the Frogs croaking during the night but not so far this year. I do hope our rather large fish, Golden Orfe, don't eat all the tadpoles - they normally do!

I hope to be replacing this imported variegated variety of an unknown exotic alien species of Water Dropwort with the native and locally scarce Tubular Water Dropwort grown from seeds collected from nearby wild ponds.

Down at the bottom of the garden I found this Lesser Celendine with just one open flower - several buds about to burst though. This is a very common plant in the UK's woodlands and one of the first to flower in the spring; very obviously related to the more familiar Buttercups of later in the year.

Judging by the glare from the yellow petals and the bleaching of the Primrose's primrose colour on a recent post I think I will be investing in a UV filter before too long.

Yes - I pruned the roses! I also had a good hours squint at the sea as the high tide rose...very disappointing, about a dozen Common Scoters a good way offshore, the usual gulls tazzing up and down the coast and a distant Kittiwake. At least that was half decent...my first of the year.

Where to next? Maybe a 4x4 adventure safari in to the wilderness of distant and exotic Yorkshire at the weekend...collapsed drain repairs permitting.

In the meantime let us know if spring has sprung in your outback yet.