Loads of great guest sightings - where do I start? Findhorn Valley, the 'Valley of the Raptors', is hotting up with 2 Goshawks reported along with Red Kites, Ospreys and Buzzards.

A Ring Ouzel pair are being seen at the Cairngorm Mountain Visitor Centre car park, and Ospreys have been seen fishing at both Loch Ruthven and Loch Insh.

Both Short-eared and Barn Owls are turning up regularly at Lochindorb, and a first for our guided walks is a definite sighting of a Green Woodpecker which we first thought we heard yaffelling away last week. Right at the northern edge of its traditional range, this is an unusual and exciting encounter for the Cairngorms National Park as a whole.

There's definitely something in the air today. Call it the melted ice and snow, or possibly the skeins of Icelandic Greylag Geese who have suddenly departed the Strath, but either way, it's starting - just starting - to feel a bit like Spring.

The woods and forests are really coming alive with birds, and birdsong. Great Spotted Woodpeckers are busily drumming away in Anagach and it is noticeable over the last few days how many Common Toads have emerged from their winter hibernation. Is this related to the increased sightings of Barn Owls on the highland estate where I live?

Whatever, the reason, owls of all kinds are being seen more regularly, like the Tawny Owl I photographed on the way home from work, or the Short-eared Owl spied from my car on a day visit to RSPB Loch of Strathbeg before I had even parked my car!

With large numbers of Gannets already massing at Troup Head and roding Woodcock emerging from the woods at dusk, is it possible that Spring has sprung?