After another wild and windy night last night, it was a treat to step out of the door to a bright, breezy spring morning, with a few high clouds drifting across a bright blue sky.
Entering Sunnydale, I was greeted by the drumming of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, perched high up on a towering Sycamore, his red, black and white feathers looking superb in the morning sunshine.
Below him, 50 (at least!) shades of green, as Hawthorn, Elder, Privet and Hazel burst their buds, above an understory of the glossy green leaves of Lords and Ladies, delicate green leaves of Herb Robert and Cow Parsley, dense swathes of Ramsons and little blue Dog Violets.
A Raven croaks hoarsely as it flaps along above the canopy, with a Blue Tit carefully inspecting the buds of a Sycamore, in search of breakfast. Chiffchaffs, Bullfinches, Greenfinches, Great Tits and Long-tailed Tits bustle among the scrub, with the fluty warble of a Blackcap echoing among the trees.
Just outside the Learning Centre, 5 Buff-tailed Bumble Bees hover around the fluffy catkins of a Sallow, with sweet-scented Blackthorn blossom also providing plenty of early nectar.
Even the short grass around the car parks is full of new life, with constellations of golden Lesser Celandine flowers, scruffy yellow-flowered Groundsel, Shepherd’s Purse (with it’s tiny heart-shaped seed-pods) and tall, slender Hairy Bitter-cress, along with Parsley Piert, Common Daisy, Grape Hyacinth and the leaves of Common Ragwort and Teasel.
Skylarks pour their lovely, liquid song into the air above the meadows, where the first of the Cowslips bob in the breeze.
On the downs, still early days, but more and more Early Spider Orchids are coming into bloom – give it another week or two to see them in much greater numbers though.
Along the cliffs, Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmars and Shags are all easy to see, as breeding season approaches.