It's orchid time again at Maltby Common Local Nature Reserve.
The greater butterfly orchids are looking good, but most of the bee orchids have yet to open. The site is well worth a visit if you get the chance, but the orchid season doesn't last long!
Getting to Maltby Common by public transport is easy; catch a number 10 or 87 bus from Rotherham Interchange, then get off at the terminus (near the Lumley Arms pub).
On Tuesday Liz and I reluctantly returned home from a fabulous holiday in the southwest of Britain - a week on the Isles of Scilly, plus a few days in the far west of Cornwall.
We were very lucky with the weather. Although Bank Holiday Monday was a total wash-out, we had more than our fair share of blue skies and warm sunshine. At times the weather was so good that it felt more like the Mediterranean than the British Isles!
After a couple of false starts, it feels like spring has finally sprung. The buds are bursting, the birds are nesting... and even the toads are feeling amorous.
Yesterday I had a wander through Cressbrook Dale National Nature Reserve, one of my favourite areas in the White Peak.
The wooded section of the dale is carpeted by the emerging foliage of ramsons, bluebell, wood anemone and other wildflowers. It's going to look stunning when they're all in bloom!
No sign of any wheatears around Peter's Stone at the top end of the dale - they seem to be very late arriving this year.
This year March lived up to its beastly reputation by "coming in like a lion but going out like a lamb".
The month brought us the wildest weather of the winter: storm-force winds and snow, plus rain, hail, frost and fog. However, the last two days of March were calm, sunny and truly spring-like.
Liz and I had a great walk around Agden and Rocher on Sunday afternoon. The weather was perfect for landscape photography - the vivid blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds inspired me to try some filtered monochrome shots. I'm really pleased with the results.
The weather may still be chilly but, for many birds, the breeding season is now well under way.
This morning Liz and I spent a while watching birds along the River Wye in Bakewell, Derbyshire. We witnessed a lot of territorial behaviour, indicating that many birds have paired-off and are becoming less tolerant of their neighbours.
A male mute swan put on an impressive threat display as he chased a rival off his patch. With his wings stiffly arched, he thrust his breast forward and ploughed through the water, creating a turbulent bow wave. All the other waterfowl scattered as he eventually took flight in pursuit, his feet slapping the surface of the water.
Over by the far bank, a pair of dippers were engaged in a running battle with an interloper who had strayed too close to their chosen nest site.
Later in the day, as we walked through Lathkill Dale, we had a very close view of two cock pheasants sparring. Meanwhile, a raven displayed high overhead - repeatedly flipping over in flight and making a bell-like "clonk" call.
Back at home, the robins in our garden began collecting dead leaves earlier this week. It looks as though they are building a nest behind our next door neighbour's shed.
Yesterday I spotted the first frogspawn of the year in the Loxley Valley. This morning the frogs were out en masse down in Rivelin.
They've emerged a few days later than they did in 2007 - hardly surprising, as all the ponds were frozen solid this time last week!
