A glorious spring morning, with streaks of high cloud scuffed across a bright blue sky and a pleasant north-easterly breeze and bright sunshine making it a perfect morning for a walk.
The air is filled with the scent of Mayflower (or Hawthorn blossom) which fills the hedgerows with a foam of white flowers). Lovely, Muscatel-scented Elder flowers are also in bloom, as Honeysuckle scrambles and tangles it’s way over Blackthorn and the base of the hedgerows are enveloped in heaps of Cleavers.
The ‘scratchy’ song of Whitethroats can be heard from almost every patch of scrub, along with the ‘schwee’ of Greenfinches, while the air above the meadows is full of the glorious carolling of Skylarks.
The cliffs are bustling with activity, as Guillemots and Razorbills whir in and out from the cliffs on flickering wings, as Fulmars wheel in smooth curves above them. Shags flap ponderously by, their black plumage shining bottle-green in the sunshine, as Jackdaws squabble noisily above the Coast Path.
Out of the wind, plenty of butterflies are already on the wing, with lots of little steel-blue Small Blues along the side of Centenary Meadow, Common and Holly Blues in the Lighthouse Field and a beautiful fresh bright orange Small Copper in a sheltered hollow of the downs. In the woodland, Speckled Woods whirl dizzyingly as they dogfight over sunny glades, with Red Admiral and Dingy Skipper also on the wing.
The meadows are changing almost daily at the moment, with Ox-eye Meadow covered with a bobbing sea of Ox-eye Daisies (their faces turned to the sun) above dense swathes of Yellow Rattle, Rough Hawkbit, Eyebright and Bulbous Buttercup.
Pink and white ‘Raspberry Ripple’ Common Spotted Orchids form dense swarms in South Field, while in Centenary blue Pale Flax sways in the breeze, above pink Sainfoin and yellow-green Crosswort. Join me for a walk at 2.30 to enjoy some of these!