I head out across the meadows which are lined with scatterings of yellow flowers where the Bulbous Buttercup has bloomed. A closer look reveals the yellow to be interspersed with first of the Hay Rattle, but the last of the spring Cowslips. Bird’s Foot Trefoil is also spread throughout and coloured more orange-red at times, giving it’s nickname ‘Eggs and Bacon’. A small patch of Burnet Rose is found in Saxon, and a Red Admiral butterfly in flight.
Swathes of different grasses have risen across each field, creating a patchwork of green shades and textures that rolls with the wind. Tall slender stems of Pale Flax bounce back and forth, bobbing with their dainty baby blue flowers. From here, amongst the long turf, rise the performing Skylark, singing their song for all to hear.
Following the fall of the last Blackthorn petals, Hawthorn has now flowered and an explanation to why it is commonly known as ‘Mayflower’. It’s white flowers adorn the hedges and patches of scrub, along with the large discs shaped clusters of Elderflowers which will flower through June. Look out for the purpled-flowered Tufted Vetch which extends twisting tendrils to climb up through these borders.
Dunnock appears to be the bird of the day with good numbers heard calling out all morning. More Chiffchaffs and Wrens are heard as I head further west. I reach the western most fields to turn the stopcock on a trough for the arrival of the Herefords later today – the cows with their new calves. A Whitethroat is sighted as it pauses upon a tree, before disappearing behind an old dry stone wall.