Spring in the Air!

It was very cold first thing this morning, but soon warmed up and was lovely in the bright sunshine.

Colinton Dell by the Water of Leith already smells of wild garlic, though the plants are only just emerging from the soil and won't flower for a while yet.

The hazel catkins are gorgeous just at the minute, this photo shows the male catkins, the smooth ones are less ripe than the larger fluffier ones.

and I was particularly pleased to get the shot below, which also shows the beautiful little red female flower, can you see her?

The birds certainly thought it was spring. Blue tits were chasing each other among the trees, song thrushes and a mistle thrush were singing, as were the robins and dippers, but these two latter species sing all year! Ialso had a lovely close sighting of a goldcrest, the tiniest British bird - a first for the year, so I've added that to my bird list!

The tawny owl though, had moved further into its hole, just its head peeking out today.