'March winds, April showers, bring forth May flowers'. So runs the ancient rhyme.
However, rainfall since last October has been well below average while only about a quarter of the normal amount fell in April.
Nevertheless, wild flowers are magnificent this spring but rivers and reservoirs are at a low ebb and wildlife can suffer in such conditions.
One notable example belongs to the earthworm. In frosty or excessively dry weather worms dive deep and are less accessible for a whole host of creatures for whom worms comprise a notable part of their diet.
Examples include badgers, foxes and hedgehogs while blackbirds and thrushes all rely on worms especially at this time of year with young to feed.
I made a point of watering my lawn every evening in April until the final few days when rain fell. That had the dual benefit of keeping the grass in good condition and perhaps more importantly, allowing worms to surface.
So, it was rewarding to watch my local pair of blackbirds fly down to the wet lawn at regular intervals well into dusk to pick up worms with which to feed their hungry new brood of fledglings(pictured)
Animals and birds need to drink of course so my garden pond, probably the only water body locally was very busy with crows, magpies, stockdoves, pigeons and a variety of smaller species risking a soaking as they perched poised on the edge to drink and bathe.