AS I write, January is nearly over, and let’s be honest, it hasn’t been fun with wind, gales and rain.

However, as we move into February, things are looking up. The daylight is suddenly 20 or 30 minutes longer and is growing by three minutes a day.

Snow drops are bobbing in the breeze and the early hardy daffodils are cheering us up with their bold yellowness. In the next week or two, herons will start to nest and in Scotland crossbills are amongst the earliest of nesters.

What we also know, through modern technology, is that the cuckoos with the electronic tags are starting to move. Norman wintered further south than most, in Angola and so far has moved about 800 miles over the DRC and is in southern Cameroon in a rain forest nature reserve.

Arthur has started to head north, covering 200 miles so far, in a nature reserve near a city called Micomeseng, in Equatorial Guinea. Most of the others are lolling about in the tropics, soaking up the warmth - can’t say I blame them.

We will need to wait until early March for the first trees to show they are emerging from the winter sleep. Weeping willows are early starters at the beginning of March, with hazel and birch not far behind.

It’s only a few weeks away and before you know it, we’ll be dusting off the barbie and burning sausages. I can’t wait, personally, although I have promised Geraldine a winter barbecue - just not one wearing googles and a snorkel.

Fred Knobbit is a nature blogger. He grew up in the Pennines in Lancashire on the edge of an industrial town but is now safely in Cornwall. You can read his archive at www.bodminblogger.com