What a cold spring! The heavily grazed sedge rafts of the Big Pond and Curling Pond are evidence of this, but warmth yesterday and another warm day today make me think that summer is here.

Here is a video which joins together accidentally one of those I made last summer, in which there is a standoff between otters and beavers, with one of beavers feeding and grooming each other, filmed yesterday evening. I didn't mean to splice the clips together but that is what has happened and I am not going to undo them for the moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTD_3sI6-2g

It took me some time to realise what had gone wrong because I could not understand why my clip of the beavers and otters from last year should appear on what I thought was to be the feeding and grooming video.

Mark Fisher of Leeds University's article about our campaign for the free beavers of the Tay is a splendid piece of work. It is to be found at:

http://www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/tay_beaver_update.htm