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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Amanda Thomson

Country diary: As spring bursts into life, all eyes on the Cairngorms barbecue ban

Wildfire warning signs on post in the Cairngorms forest
Wildfire warning signs in the Cairngorms. Photograph: Amanda Thomson

In the pinewoods, the colours are slowly shifting, the birches to their spring green and the larch roses blossoming pink. The pair of pied wagtails have returned to our neighbour’s shed and the peewits are back on the marshes, though fewer in number (and there are two pairs of crows that maraud their territory).

The siskins have returned in numbers, huge skeins of geese have been flying north, and the swallows and housemartins are back earlier than usual, though they are still just passing through – “ours” are not yet here.

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