This morning I was greeted by a cheery Robin, singing its heart out, from the top of a bare Ash Tree: The tops of it’s branches tipped with hard black buds whilst it awaits the warmer and longer days ahead.
Beautiful blossoms adorn the Fruit Trees in the woods, and the fluffy Willow buds have transformed into a bounty of fresh red and green leaves.
I walked down the back track of Durlston Road enjoying a Chiffchaff’s repetitive call ‘tweet tweet, tweet tweet, tweet tweet, tweet tweet’, ringing out alongside the song of a Wren.
Winter Heliotrope leaves have sprung to great heights, superseded only by the flowering Stinking Hellebore and some Daffodils which has grown particularly tall as they race towards the sunlight.
I am continually impressed by the sheer number of Daffodils in bloom across Sunnydale. They mostly have white petals with a central yellow corona, which looks a bit like a egg, sunny-side up!
The paths here are scattered in fallen Horse Chestnut leaves which now droop from the branches above. At the ‘Shakspeare’ bench, the Hydrangeas have sprouted fresh leaves above a carpet of Wild Garlic and Three-corned Leek, which smells just incredible. A beautiful display of pink flowers can be seen on the Cherry Tree.
On my return up the hill, I crossed the entrance road into the meadows, passing a group of four Great Tits heckling one another from a Holm Oak above the flowering Viburnum.
It was nice to see a scattering of Cowslips beginning to take over Ox-Eye Meadow, but no sign of any flowering Orchids just yet.