Rising sap

The sap is rising and, stimulated by increasing daylight, the hormones are pumping out. Suddenly, sex is seriously on the brain. But enough about me. Out in the fields around Cuddesdon, Spring also appears to be taking hold.  I cross the park, dreaming as always, about finding a Hoopoe here. And, as always, there is only a Green Woodpecker:

But today we have visitors: 2 singing Chiffchaffs, fresh in from somewhere south

In the hedgerows the first Linnets are in song, Red-legged Partridges sing from the fields and plenty of these guys mutter about not having enough cheese:

And then a group of white men, burdened by thousands of pounds worth of equipment, appear on the hill above Denton: metal detectors! Imagine having a hobby that involved spending hours walking around carrying loads of equipment and not seeing anything... sounds strangely familiar to me.