A wet, grey morning with the strange stuff called rain dropping vertically from the sky!
Through the woods the leaves of the Hart’s-tongue Fern were shining a bright green, the water making these, and the leaves of Ivy and Stinking Iris show brilliantly.
As I waited for a delivery of Purbeck limestone to arrive (there is always more building and repair of 7 miles of dry-stone walls), I had the opportunity to watch some snails. The large Garden Snail was sliming across the stone, leaving a trail, on another rock the dark brown discus shaped Wall Snail to be spotted, and holding onto the tall stems of the Wild Parsnip was the small Spiral Snail, which always look wobbly and unwieldy to me.
A few flowers to be enjoyed from the Red Bartsia and Restharrow both pink and low to the ground, the whitish Wild Carrot and Yarrow and the tall yellow Ragwort and the pale purple prickly Creeping Thistle.
A bit of birdwatching around the gulley enabled me to enjoy the sight of Bullfinches as they moved around the haw laden Hawthorn scrub. The white rumps flashing as they moved between the branches, occasionally the sight of the male’s bright pink chest spotted.
As I watched, a Willow Warbler appeared for a moment on the twig of a Wayfaring Tree, but I was disappointed not to see a Redstart, the first of the year was seen yesterday (unless anyone else has an earlier record?)
A Raven croaked overhead, its large black body and fluffy neck showing against the dark sky. A couple of Magpies were squabbling in the Holm Oak.
On the ground a few yellow flowers of the Greater Bird’s-foot Trefoil contrasting with the darker Bird’s-foot Trefoil.