Swans pay us a visit

A rare sight in the Jeziorki wetlands - a pair of swans flew in today. How long will they stay? Plenty of ducks, moorhens and black-headed gulls about too. Eddie's friend Wojtek says he saw a pair of herons earlier today. It's all happening bird-wise, spring is beginning to assert itself.

SUPPLEMENTARY
A week on and the swans are still here. I hope they stay a while.

Early spring dusk

The clocks go back tonight. Those commentators who say that time change serves no purpose are doubly wrong. I'm fed up of being woken up by the sun rising at quarter past five. Quarter past six is more reasonable. Secondly, the longer evening (sun setting at seven pm) means I can cycle to and from work in daylight, and that I can go for walks or bike rides after returning home in the evening. Indeed, I believe that the time change should happen a month earlier - in late February, rather than the last Saturday of March. The clocks go back two months before the winter solstice (last weekend of October), yet go forward three months after winter solstice. This assymetry should be corrected. This would give the impression of spring coming earlier - something we all need in the Northern Hemisphere. Anyone else in favour of an putting clocks forward in late February?

After a beautiful dawn with clear skies, the clouds rolled in bringing a day's rain. Above: The tram terminus on al. Krakowskie. (Click here for the same view in mid-summer.) The skies cleared just before dusk, giving me an opportunity to visit the end of ul. Trombity with my camera and wellies. Below: A TEM-2 diesel loco hauls a coal train towards Siekierki. Today's rain meant the wetlands are wetter than ever, the water level was higher than the tops of my wellies even at the edges, so I got wet socks. The bitterns are back (making the sound of someone blowing over the top of a quart flagon). I saw two hares, though they moved so quickly I didn't manage to catch a clear shot.

I'm grateful for the fact that this piece of land at the end of our road is still wild, unspoilt save for the odd litter-dumps, and not a municipal leisure facility with car parks, footpaths, rangers, noticeboards, signposts, viewing platforms and byelaws. In post-Lent mode, I find I have a massive appetite for Asiatic food. Today, I had Vietnamese fried beef noodle soup (the Asia Tasty on ul. Ptasia). Yesterday I had sushi (the Kobe on ul. Puławska). On Thursday I had dim-sum (the Tokyo on ul. Dobra). On Wednesday more fried beef noodle soup. My Lenten diet obviously lacked some nutritional elements that my organism sorely needs and I'm now making it up big time!

This MUST be the last snow of this winter!?

I woke up this morning (quarter past five and light already) to the sight of more snow. It had been just below zero all night and the wet snow was sticking to vertical surfaces. The sky was clear though. I set off early for a breakfast meeting in Warsaw's Nowe Miasto (next to the Old Town). Between Ratusz-Arsenał Metro station and my destination, I strolled throught the Ogród Krasińskich (below). Quarter past seven and no one around.

On via ul. Freta (below), which links the Old Town (Stare Miasto) with Nowe Miasto. Warsaw's still deserted at this hour. The temperature climbs above zero. The snow is not destined to last. By the time I get home, it's +8C and all traces of snow have disappeared out in Jeziorki. Will this finally be the last of this winter's snow?

Below: Nowe Miasto - the square. Finally, signs of life. It's twenty to eight. The paucity of cars in the square helps the composition, as does the woman in the red jacket. St Kazimierz's Church was the site of tragic loss of life during the Warsaw Uprising. I must say I do love Warsaw; I have taken this city to heart.

Supplementary: This was indeed the last snow of the winter.

Lent - a summing up

Seven weeks after I started my 17th annual Lenten fast, three days after Easter Sunday, time for a summary. I gave up meat, dairy products, fish; caffeine (coffee and tea), alcohol, salt snacks, fast food, sugar, confectionary, cake. Weight down by seven pounds/half a stone/three and a bit kilo.

Blood pressure down (I suspect as a result from not salting my food) from 142/93 to 133/89. Pulse down from 102 to 70. One whole inch off from round the middle. I feel calmer. My desk at work is tidy.

I've gone back to my usual foods and drink, but will persevere with the salt ban. Too readily have I reached for the salt cellar without checking the salinity of what I'm about to eat. Having got used to the taste of less-salted food, I'll stick to that. I did not miss meat much, so will eat it sparingly in future. Giving up TV was no problem at all. Music and film I did miss and will continue to indulge myself.

Exercise - did 150 sit-ups today (two lots of 75) and will stick to this too, and indeed started doing press-ups (two lots of seven today). This seems to give results in the long term - as long as one is systematic about it.

The fate of urban wetlands?

Is this the inevitable fate of the wetlands at the end of ul. Trombity? This is Paradise Fields wetlands, Greenford, Middlesex ( 51°32'39.08"N, 0°20'29.23"W). A mile or so from our London house, eight miles from Marble Arch. Packaged as a "leisure facility" for coachloads of bored school children. On our visit, Moni, Eddie and I were outnumbered by uniformed council Rangers on patrol, each sporting a pair of binoculars and wellies. Viewing platforms, fenced off from the water, enable visitors to safely participate in the wetlands experience. Footpaths prevent footwear from becoming muddy. Byelaws (below) prevent you from doing everything except fly-tipping and dumping litter (the one thing that detracts from our Jeziorki wetlands paradise.

Let's hope that our low, low council rates in Jeziorki (30 quid a year) stops anyone in the Town Hall from having any right-on ideas about civilising our reedbeds.

I find it quite amazing that Polish is becoming the London Borough of Ealing's second official language!

Snowy Easter in England

Early Easter and late snow affected England too. A country where a White Christmas is a rarity, snow in late-March is an extremely unusual sight. On Easter Saturday, Manchester was visited by hailstones (above). And on Easter Sunday, after having been to a two-hour Resurrection Vigil mass, we awoke to see snow.

Right: A folk carving of a Pensive Christ (Chrystus Frasobliwy) on Easter Day.

Lent is over. Back to meat, cheese, fish, coffee, wine etc etc. The long fast has ended, cleansing the body, strengthening the Will. Final weight on Easter Sunday, 11 st 3lb. Half a stone taken off. Three and half bags of sugar. 130 sit-ups (two lots of 65) - I will continue with the exercise regime as it has shaved an inch off round my middle.

Snowstorm on the first day of spring

We've temporarily moved offices from Powiśle, a quiet part of Warsaw near the river and Łazienki Park, to al. Jana Pawła II (above) right in the heart of the central business district. This morning, arriving at work, I was caught up in a sudden snowstorm entirely out of place for late March. Snows do happen late (13 April 1997 is one I recall); many Poles remember May Day parades in short sleeved shirts and snow flurries. Harry Secombe once sang: "If I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of spring". No thanks. Neither do I wish it could be Christmas every day. Now, 18 May would be nice... Right: The view looking south along al. Jana Pawła II, on the corner of ul. Grzybowska. In the distance, the Rondo ONZ I skyscraper. This part of Warsaw is getting very high-rise. Across Grzybowska, behind the Westin hotel, another tall building is emerging from behind the scaffolding.

The meaning of Equinox

Today, at 05:48 GMT (06:48 here in Warsaw), is the moment of the Vernal (or Spring) Equinox. At that time, the sun crosses the Equator, and will from now on be shining over the Northern Hemisphere. This is the astronomical beginning of spring. Equinox (from the Latin, 'equal night') means that all over the world, the day is 12 hours long, and the night is 12 hours long (roughly, of course - the earth's curvature does mean that dusks are shorter at the Equator than at the Poles). From today right up to September 22 at 16:44 GMT, we'll have more day than night in the Northern Hemisphere. Today the sun rises just before quarter to six in the morning and sets at quarter to six in the evening. And winter is officially over.

Notice on the map above the red star shape over the Indian Ocean. That's the sun crossing the Equator. And note the rectangular shape of daylight falling on the globe. This map is available here. Below: The view from my study at Equinox. "It may be zero degrees, but in my heart it's spring".