What a glorious sunny morning, not a cloud in the bright blue sky, only the horizon shrouded in a low fog covering the Isle of Wight.
Walking in the sheltered hollows a faint hint of frost, providing a white covering to the grass and a crunch to my step.
Flying overhead a charm of Goldfinches, the tinkling bringing them to my attention, as they landed amongst the dead stems and heads of the Woolly Thistle and Burdock their wings flashed golden.
While watching these small birds my ear was caught by the sound of Linnets twittering as they flew, a good view had as they landed amongst the fronds and ropes of the Old Man’s Beard. The off-white wispy beard providing a sea of seed heads for birds to enjoy.
Perched in the Hawthorn tree was a Redwing, the sun shining directly on its side highlighting the red coloured markings under the wing, and the pale yellow stripe above its eye. A view like this makes the Redwing such a distinctive bird.
A sudden eruption of noise from the hedgerow was caused by a Pheasant emerging out of the undergrowth, a great shock to my system as it flew almost past my ear!
In the gully, a male Roe Deer was standing perfectly still, except its ears which were twitching as I moved. The dull brown pelage making it difficult to see against the scrubby backdrop. Later, on the downland a second Roe Deer was lying up on the grassy tufts, this female basking in the warm sunlight.
A Parasol mushroom was showing amongst the grassland, while a number of the slightly slimy Field Blewitts are also in fruit.
Along the hedgerows the red berries of Hawthorn, Bryony and Rosehips providing splashes of colour as are the orange berries of Stinking Iris and the pink berries of Spindle.