The glorious sunshine of yesterday, followed by wonderfully clear night, where the stars and planets were twinkling and shining, has given way to a grey, cloudy and windy morning!
I headed off into the ‘Pleasure Grounds’ woodland where the sound of small birds was evident, sometimes even allowing me to locate the small birds hidden amongst the mass of branches.
Up in the swaying branches of the Beech a couple of Great Tits were perched, their black chest stripe just visible from below.
Nearby the ticking of a bright orange fronted Robin, while another was producing a melodious song.
A high-pitched call caught my attention, so I scanned amongst the Privet, then Hazel and finally the waving twigs of an Ash to discover the Goldcrest. This tiny bird constantly moving, making it very difficult to get a good view to admire its markings.
A few spring flowers braving the conditions, with the Spring Crocuses looking a bit bedraggled, as they were closed and collapsed onto the ground!
The clumps of Snowdrops were adding splashes of white to the woodland floor, while a few Primroses and a very few Daffodils were in flower. Most of the Daffodils are still only evident by the tall leaves and a few tightly closed buds.
The Winter Flowering Cherry is still providing a lovely show of blossom, while the bright red berries of Cherry Laurel can be spotted amongst their large green leaves on this exotic plant.
Dark black Ivy berries, and the pink ones of Japanese Spindle also captured my attention, as did the bright orange berries of a Stinking Iris. In places, beginning to provide a carpet are the leaves of Lord & Ladies.
As I looked up into the branches of some Sycamores the nest of Rooks, left over from last year were visible, no sign of these large corvids returning this year as of yet.