CONTENTSIntroduction ix1 Clear Light Shines Through Mist 12 Dunnock Song Defies Traffic Noise 53 Rain Sometimes Turns to Hail 94 Woodpeckers Start Drumming 135 Crocuses Emerge from Damp Soil 186 Blackthorn Sheds Blossom 237 Birdsong Fills the Air 278 Crows Start Building Nests 329 Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom 3710 First Chiffchaff Sings 4211 Moths Sometimes Fly 4712 Great Tits Scout for Nesting Sites 5213 Dawn Chorus Intensifies 5614 Migrant Birds Arrive from Africa 6115 Spring Butterflies Add Colour 6616 Lily of the Valley Blooms 7017 Rain Refreshes Parched Ground 7518 Fox Cubs Start to Play 8019 Swifts Arrive 8520 Bees All Over the Place 9021 Starling Hullabaloo 9422 Warmth Settles In 9923 Peonies Bloom at Last 10424 Woodpeckers Feed Their Offspring 10925 Leaf Miners Run Amok 11426 Early Summer Storms 11927 Butterflies All Over the Place 12328 Insects Gather in the Heat 12829 Cool Winds Sometimes Blow 13230 Lavender Assumes Massive Proportions 13731 Birds in Moult 14132 Flying Ants Fill the Sky 14633 Acorns Fall to the Ground 15034 Butterflies Bask in Heat 15435 Swifts Fly Home 15836 Heat Stifles, Evenings Stay Light 16337 Flies All Over the Place 16838 Bird Sounds Start Again 17339 Robins Sing Autumn Song 17840 Fruit Falls to the Ground 18341 Conkers Begin to Fall 18742 Dragonflies Lay Eggs on Water 19143 Ivy Flowers 19644 Bats Sometimes Swarm 20045 House Martins Leave 20546 Some Leaves Turn Yellow 21047 Starlings Start to Gather 21448 Evening Skies Blaze 21949 Maple Reaches Peak of Glory 22450 Redwings Arrive 22951 Plane Trees Shed Their Leaves 23452 Sogginess Prevails 23953 Spiders Appear in Sheds 24354 Autumn Days Sometimes Attain Perfection 24755 Bracken Turns to Bronze 25156 Starlings Whizz Around in Groups 25657 Plane Trees Sprout Seed Heads 26058 Leaves Lie Thick on the Grass 26559 Evenings Draw In 26960 Mud All Over the Place 27461 Winter Closes In 27962 Grey Skies Are Unremitting 28463 Gulls Gather in Flocks 28964 Magnolia Shows First Buds 29465 Storms Sometimes Blow 29866 Christmas Trees Are Released into the Wild 30267 Hellebores Flower 30768 Rain Revives Mosses 31169 Snowdrops Poke Through Soil 31670 Snow Sometimes Falls 32071 Birds Emerge After Snow 32472 Jays Retrieve Acorns 328Acknowledgements 335.