A misty and damp start to the day, though spring is still working it’s magic across the Park, with a tangible sense of excitement, as new life appears or re-awakens.
Down on the cliffs, Guillemots and Razorbills are renewing their bonds after a winter apart, preening their partners affectionately as they bob on the gently lapping waves and filling the air with their gentle growls. Many more are crowded onto the ledges, with a pair of Guillemots off Tilly Whim still in their whiter, dappled ‘winter’ plumage.
A Shag flaps along for a few feet before giving up and plopping into the water, laden down with a huge piece of Kelp – obviously intended for some nest maintenance, but a bit overambitious!
Further out, stately white Gannets and a Red-Throated Diver pass by, while closer to the cliffs, Fulmars carve elegant arcs through the air and a noisy mob of Jackdaws squabble above the Observation Point.
The short downland turf is studded with the first jewel-like blue Hairy Violets, while the fluffy, green-yellow flowers of Spring Sedge are also starting to appear along with the green rosettes and furled flower buds of Early Spider Orchids.
Blackthorn is dappled with white flowers, while bright green leaves are appearing on Hawthorn.
Overhead, flocks of colourful Goldfinches, carolling Skylarks and a few Bramblings pass by, as a Raven spirals upward above the Mile Markers and a Hen Pheasant bursts out of the Gorse along the Diagonal Path just in front of me.
The woodland floor is looking glorious at the moment, carpeted with the glossy green leaves and golden flowers of Lesser Celandine, the broad green leaves of Ramsons, dense mats of garlic scented Three-cornered Leek and flowering Daffodils.
A Treecreeper scuttles up the ‘dalmatian’ trunk of a London Plane, with a Jay calling noisily from among the branches of a Monterey Cypress.