Country diary: coated with algae, the crab looks like an aquatic Green Man

Start Point, Devon: Spider crabs rub pieces of seaweed against the backs of their shells until they stick, creating remarkable camouflage

The combe above the beach echoes with the calls of chiffchaffs, and cock stonechats flick and churr on the wind-stunted hawthorns that line the footpath. Around the twin radio masts - a 20th-century riposte to Start Point's whitewashed gothic lighthouse - a small flock of swallows cut and swerve.

Beneath the sea there are signs of spring too. Common spider crabs (Maja brachydactyla), which have been overwintering in the depths, start to appear close to shore, a sight that has become a feature of my first sea swims of the year.