Leading me onto the park this morning was a Green Woodpecker, its undulated flight bobbing in front of my car as I came up the hill. A rise of the left wing, a dip of the right and it was gone into some foliage. Above the car park Swallows darted for their breakfast whilst a cascade of Chiffchaff calls echoed from perch to pew.
Taking a turn down the Diagonal Path 2 Greenfinch were calling from the top of some Hawthorn, a vocal battle of volume against a rather attractive looking Lesser Whitethroat, slender with a silver glisten. Its not often you get a good view of these birds, at least that’s my experience, so to be able to watch it, on a short branch close to thick vegetation, was quite a treat. Every time it did its juddery, stabby call it would shake its tail with a burst of energy but as soon as I moved, it darted back to the thick of it. Rising from the Mile Markers a male Kestrel patrols the clifftop, heading East, its grey cap twitching as it trains its eyes on possible prey. Also heading east, close to the water, were 4 Guillemot. They were in a long line and it made me think of Lancaster Bombers coming back from a bombing raid, hiding close to the water to avoid enemy radar! Such is my imagination.
A Rock Pipit rises; its call gaining momentum as it heads upward, fizzing away as it sinks back to ground. And at ground level I can see Thrift, Birds Foot Trefoil, Burdock, Cuckoo Spit covered Cleavers, crimson heads of Wild Carrot, the purple flowers of Stinking Iris and colour coded near by were the low growing purples and yellow of Bittersweet. By the Mile Markers Eyebright hugs like a carpet alongside Common Milkwort and the regal looking Early Spring Gentian. Across the Gully a young Roe Deer grazes, aware of me, watching it, watching me! The young tufts of grass too tempting for it to make flight.
Heading back towards the Observation point I scan the rafts of Guillemot below and see the odd Razorbill. They always look a bit lonely to me, on the outskirts of the gangs of Guillemot and are easier to spot now against the Guillemots in their lighter summer plumage. The white band of the Razorbills eye stripe takes me back to being at school in the 80’s and it recalls memories of one of my favourite singers when I was very young, Adam Ant! Stand and deliver!