A damp but mild start to the day, with the chorus of birdsong growing by the day. The sweet notes of a Song Thrush ring out across the Aviary Glade, mingling with the ‘punchy’, insistent tunes of a Robin along with fragments of song from Dunnock and Chaffinch, though it feels still a bit like a sound-check, rather than the performance!
A Treecreeper scuttles up the stem of a London Plane in Sunnydale, with the ‘cronk’ of a Raven heard further up towards the Head.
Alongside the Aviary Glade, a magnificent display of Spring Crocuses brightens the woodland floor, which is now carpeted with the heart-shaped leaves of Dog Violet and the similar, though larger, white-flecked leaves of Lesser Celandine. Herb Robert leaves form dense clumps of pale green, with some of the spikes of Snowdrops are now crowned with pure white flowers, with a few Daffodils also starting to bloom.
The cigar-like rolled leaves of Lords and Ladies are starting to unfurl, alongside the sword-shaped leaves of Stinking Iris (with their bright orange seedpods looking great on a rather dull morning).
Hazel catkins glitter with fallen raindrops, with a few leaf-buds starting to appear, with Elder also starting to come into leaf.
Along the cliffs, Guillemots and Razorbills are once again scattered across the water, as Fulmars whirl above them. A pair of Great Black-backed Gull are cuddled up together on a rocky ledge, preening each other attentively.
A Peregrine flashes past the cliffs at Tilly Whim, with a pair of Rock Pipits hopping around the clifftop.
Turning the corner to walk up the Milepost slope, a Roe Deer bounds out of the scrub ahead of – his antlers covered in soft velvet, he was rather quicker up the hill than me!
Also seen this morning, a Bullfinch on Caravan Terrace – my eye jumping to his bright crimson breast, Goldfinches, scattered like fruit among the branches of a Sycamore near the Learning Centre and a few ‘squadrons’ of Woodpigeon, clattering by through the descending mist as I returned to the Centre.