WE decided to take a walk down to the River Tiddy, close to Hepwell Mill, to see if there were any wild daffodils out in bloom.

There were, but I was also delighted to find a crop of brick cap mushrooms.

The fungus was growing on the stump of a tree that had been cut down on the hedge some years ago. These mushrooms, which are inedible, occasionally ap[1]pear during the autumn and winter months and the ones we found were a beautiful yellow to reddish brown with yellow gills that were also turning brown.

As we walked on down the hill we came in sight of a grassy bank and saw a lovely bunch of daffs right beside the road. Say what you like about the highly cultivated and col[1]ourful daffodils that we see everywhere at this time of the year, but in my mind the plain wild variety – Narcissus pseudonarcissus – are beauti[1]ful and best.

Unfortunately, with every year that passes the number of these daffs seems to get less and less as presumably, there are people who share my views on them and trans[1]fer them to their gardens.

From the mill we decided to walk through the path field up to the woods near Trehun[1]sey Bridge and as soon as we entered the right-of-way, we could hear the loud honking sounds of Canada geese.

When we turned the corner and could look down towards the river, there were three of these unmistakable large bird that quickly took to the air when they spotted us. These very noisy birds will soon be making their nests on the ponds that are down in this valley, where they will lay half a dozen eggs and if a woods walker is very lucky, they might see the proud parents taking their goslings around the pond.

On the river bank we spotted a patch of green and yellow, which turned out to be opposite-leaved golden-saxifrage. Their small, bluntly toothed leaves make a rosette for tiny yellow flowers and in years gone by, the whole plant was picked and used as a vegetable.

When we eventually got to the road that would take us back to Quethiock there was a patch of dog’s mercury growing on the grass verge. These plants have long, oval leaves and tiny greenish flowers on a tall stem and are extremely poisonous to animals and humans. Their common name is from the Middle Ages when it was deemed to be useless and only fit for a dog - an animal that, wisely, would not touch it anyway!

Walking up the steep hill to home the hedges were sporting lots of lesser celandines that were attract[1]ing loads of bees. It was nice to see these insects at work and hope[1]fully they will soon be joined on the flowers by many different hover flies and various beetles.

At last it feels like spring is in the air.