A calm and quiet start, I head out through the woodland listening to the Robins and grunts from Squirrels in the Holm Oak.
Fresh pink and orange can be found on the Euonymus japonicus. One particularly old gnarled one is bent over sideways with large cracks running through its trunk. Supported by the adjacent Holm Oak, it appears to clamber up it’s trunk.
Wrens rustle at every corner, and snuffle marks can be seen in the woodchip where Badgers have been digging overnight.
Whilst checking on the play equipment I find a crisp packet unhelpfully stuffed into one of children’s ‘feel inside’ boxes – how delightful. But it at least provides a useful bag for other bits of rubbish I find littered along the path.
The bird song gets louder, as I head down the old pine cliff walk towards Sunnydale, with Blackbird, Robin, Chaffinch singing from the trees. A couple of Firecrest hop around the undergrowth, these tiny birds identified by a distinctive orange strips on top their heads.
Somewhere near The Shed, a Greater-spotted Woodpecker can be heard drilling high in the canopy. I heard it in this same spot on Monday, so I step closer to see if I can spot which tree it has been working on all week. Unfortunately the bird goes quiet, and my attention turns to the flowering Primrose and Crocus at my feet.
Most impressive, are the blooms of Stinking Hellebore which are one of the few plants not discouraged by the invasive carpet of Winter Heliotrope. It towers above these swathes with its large, but subtle green flowers drooping down from its stem.
My walks takes me back up Lighthouse Road, following flights of the Jays and little green flashes of Great Tit. Woodpigeons saunter along the roadside and Crows stomp around Long Meadow. A pretty display of white flower clusters can be seen on the Viburnum.