A stunning spring morning with a perfect, cloudless dome of blue sky overhead, though a chilly NE breeze whips across the meadows.
Birdsong echoes around the woodland, as I step into Sunnydale, with the sweet, repeated melodies of a Song Thrush, mingling with the jazzy, syncopated rhythms of Dunnocks, the insistent notes of Robins and chattering of Long-tailed Tits.
High in the branches of Sycamore, 3 Grey Squirrels screech at each other in a tense 3-way standoff, eventually scattering as a Raven lands in the canopy above them, with a harsh “Cronk”.
Around the woodland floor, a sea of Three-cornered Leek is dappled with the first white flowers, with Bluebells, Lesser Celandine, Primroses and Daffodils all flourishing, thanks to the extra light created by the tree work carried out over the last few years.
Emerging into the brilliant sunshine at the top of Long Meadow, a Green Woodpecker bobs past me – it’s green, yellow and crimson plumage looking magnificent in the morning sun.
Above the meadows, Skylarks carol breathlessly, while the fields are framed with a creamy foam of Blackthorn blossom. Along the hedgerow in Taskers meadow, a wonderful display of Early Purple Orchids can be seen – their dark pink flowers and spotted leaves distinguishing them from the smaller, unspotted more purple Green-winged Orchids around them.
Early Spider Orchids are becoming more numerous by the day, with a lovely ‘swarm’ of 30 or so in the space of less than a square metre in the Saxon Field.
A tide of pale yellow Cowslips is sweeping across the fields, dancing in the breeze – come and visit in a week or so to see them at their best.
Along the cliffs, Guillemots and chunkier, blacker Razorbills bounce around on the waves, with more zooming in and out from the ledges, as Fulmars carve smooth arcs through the gusty air above them.