Country diary: wasps have the gall to remind us of their earlier presence

Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex I have the reserve to myself, save for a flock of bullfinches and the geese and ducks collecting on the flooded fields

Small black clouds of starlings fly up from the fields and whirr for a short distance before dropping back into the long grass. Seven Canada geese call to each other as they fly past, descending onto the flooded fields to join the other geese and ducks collecting there before dusk. I cross the brooks from the river Arun, my boots sinking into the soft, smooth mud. On the patches that have remained in shadow all day, the ground is still frozen and it crunches underfoot. Dark grey cloud slowly spreads from the north-east.