Despite a grey and overcast start to the day, signs of spring are appearing around the Park, and as the sun breaks through among shoals of cloud, it feels like winter is finally fading away.
Out in the meadows, the very first of the Cowslips are starting to bloom, tiny, fragile flowers still nestling among the grass, with plenty of their close relative, Primroses, in flower in the woodland.
Skylarks reel out their song high overhead, while in the Saxon Field, rosette leaves of Early Spider Orchid stud the shorter turf.
The hedgerows are dusted with white Blackthorn flower buds, while Hawthorn is covered with a fuzz of bright green leaves, with Elder also covered with fresh growth and Sallow looking fantastic, with it’s fuzzy yellow catkins.
Here and there, the first Hairy Violets dapple the downland, with many more still to come over the next month.
Birds bustle through the hedgerows, with Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Chiffchaffs, Blackbird, Song Thrush and Dunnock all seen or heard.
A Firecrest darts through the Canopy near Caravan Terrace, with Goldcrests seen in the Copse, along with a handsome Bullfinch.
On the way down to the Castle, Green Alkanet is covered with it’s pretty blue flowers.
Along the clifftop, the large blue flowers of Great Periwinkle can be found along the hedges, while below, the cliffs are bustling with seabirds.
Guillemots bob on the water below, as Fulmars wheel smoothly by, with a few Gannets out in the distance. Rock Pipits call out brief snatches of song from the clifftop, with a Peregrine streaking along just below the cliffs.
A Kestrel hovers above the Gully, with the ‘yaffle’ of a Green Woodpecker and the drumming of a Great Spotted Woodpecker also heard.
Returning along the Diagonal Path, a Stonechat ‘chats’ from among the flowering Gorse.