Can this winter go on much longer? It hasn’t been cold, but grey and very, very wet. Good news from our neck of the woods – the bullfinch barometer is rising. As soon as these striking red birds are seen regularly hanging around in our front garden cherry damson tree, then we know spring is not far off. The finches come to feast on the delicacy of the tiny white blossom buds, which first appear at the turn of the year and slowly swell on the black twigs.With the first prolonged mild spell of early spring, the buds grow large enough to attract the attention of the bullfinches. In mild years this can be in February, although last year it wasn’t until April. With three or four sightings of the birds already this year, spring can’t be far off now. We don’t really