Shaded from the low Sun, I’m once again scraping ice from my car windscreen this morning. But I set off under a clear blue sky, and just up the hill, bright sunshine is cast across the park with barely a flicker of wind to sway the branches. Green leaves have appeared upon the Cherry Plum along with their pretty white flowers.
Across the downs, yellow flowers have blossomed on the patches of Gorse. The flowers follow the distinctive pattern of those in the pea-family; five irregularly shaped petals with one line of symmetry: an upright ‘standard’, two ‘wings’, and two lower petals joined at the bottom to form the ‘keel’ like on a boat. They have a lovely coconut scent.
As we approach Spring, birds appear to be getting busier, as they scout out places to nest. Chirps from Dunnock, Chaffinch, and Blue Tit are heard. A charm of Goldfinch flashing their yellow feathers as they pass. Melodies from a Robin, and short warble from a Blackbird. A series of loud churrs commence as Great Tits flock into an emergent Sycamore. One, two, three, four, birds swoop into its branches, their green feathers sailing through the air.
I’m wandering around the scrublands near Goat Plot, where lots of work has been recently carried out to reclaim more of the grasslands. Here, Wrens and Dunnocks appear to sing to one another from East or West, their songs echoed from one side to the other.
Atop the lichen-clad Blackthorn a little grey bird appears with black feathers atop its head – the Blackcap; a bird which is increasingly found to overwinter in the UK.
I head up through clearing and under the canopy of the fringing Holm Oaks, here the ground is shaded by their evergreen branches and the scrub is outcompeted for light. Just a few low Brambles and a covering of Stinking Iris leaves. The open space allows room for the Roe Deer roam, and they are heard scampering off into the distance.