Spring always seems to end up being the busiest time of the year. Not only are there many things to finish at the end of the academic/financial year but it is the season of new activities and possibilities as we look forward to the summer. This year I am coping with a temporary office move (for redecoration) and the planning of the conference in September on top of the usual Spring-time demands and trying to keep calm on the surface whilst paddling furiously underneath. The conference has been over-scubscribed for participants since before the abstract deadline and we have had to turn potential speakers away due to availability of presentation slots, so I am optimistic that we will have a lively conference with a range of different contributors.
Despite this I was able to take full advantage of the many holidays during April to get out and about to do some birdwatching and remind myself why the landscape is so important. Red kites swarming down from the mountains of mid-Wales, pied flycatchers and redstarts in an oak woodland, and (a personal first) watching a cuckoo ‘cuckoo-ing’ on a branch. Without a healthy landscape that fits together all of this would be less likely and the World would be a poorer place, I’m sure you would agree.
Anyway, sorry for the short editorial, but whilst typing this I have had three e-mails and two interruptions from colleagues demanding my attention. I’m sure this sounds familiar…