I try not to be too pessimistic when writing about our local wildlife but all who love science have to tell the truth.

Some say that 2013 will prove that many of our butterflies are in decline.

The terrible weather of 2012 cannot have helped and atmospheric pollution has certainly caused problems.

The spring of 2013 has been so cold that it cannot have made the plight of our butterflies any easier. Over the next few months I will be looking out for and counting butterflies during my walks.

There are only about 40 species in Britain and so it is easy to study them.

Some are now very rare but even the commoner ones like the small tortoiseshell and the peacock have been having their problems. It really is a case in the summer of 2013 for us to “watch this space”.

A small taste of spring

Now that our rivers are less polluted there are lots of attractive strolls, including one of my favourites.

I followed the road down from the Gamecock Inn which began life as a large farm until I reached a bridge over the Calder.

A left turn through a stile leads to Whalley Nab with the river down to the right. At one time this area was a grouse moor and hence the name of the pub – the Gamecock.

Soon I had two sightings worthy of note. First I had the fleeting glance of a kingfisher and then a long look at a heron which had caught a fish and was eating it.

Despite the cold wet day the swallows and house martins were back from Africa and a female blackbird was feeding her young. A few brave flowers including primroses and violets were peeping out from a tangle of leaves and the hawthorn was coming into leaf.

A brown hare sped up into the Nab and a curlew was babbling away its spring song. I enjoyed this stroll on a very cold St George’s Day but at least I enjoyed a small taste of spring.

Swan-upmanship on the Thames

This week I had a letter from a friend, who for the last 40 years has been studying male swans on the Thames.

This year he has invited me to go down to watch the swan upping ceremony on the river.

Last year because of the bad weather the ceremony was cancelled for the first time in its history.

The ceremony began in the 14th century when swans were eaten and had to be farmed so that they survived. Any unmarked swan belonged to the monarch and influential people were allowed to scratch marks on the bill of the swan to indicate ownership.

The hoteliers scratched two nicks on the bills of their swans and hence they have the name of some of our pubs.

The Swan with two nicks was altered to the Swan with Two Necks which makes much less sense than the older name.