A walk through the woods to start off the morning rounds, where spring has transformed the landscape from bare, brown and windswept into a lush, green ‘jungle’.
In the canopy overhead, a Great Spotted Woodpecker drums on the trunk of a Sycamore, as Woodpigeons flirt noisily and a Great Tit wheezes out his ‘squeaky bike pump’ song.
In the Aviary Glade, a Dunnock flicks through the leaf litter, as Grey Squirrels squabble among the branches above
The woodland floor is carpeted with flowers, with dozens of the little ‘sunburst’ flowers of Lesser Celandine shining up from the grass near the ‘Shakespeare’ bench. Around them, a sea of the pungent, garlic-scented green leaves of Ramsons, many now with white flowers.
Here and there Bluebells are in bloom in the denser shade, with the curious flowers of Jack-in-the-Pulpit, the lacy blooms of Cow Parsley and pink Herb Robert to name just a few. Speckled Wood butterflies guard patches of sunshine.
A pungent whiff of Fox musk hangs in the air on the Woodland Path, where a magnificent Horse Chestnut is covered in large, fresh green leaves.
Elsewhere around the Park, Early Spider, Green-winged and Early Purple Orchids are in flower, while Cowslips cover many of the meadows.
On the Downland, pale blue Milkwort dapples the grassland, as Swallows and House Martins skim by overhead.
Guillemots are crowded onto the ledges along the Clifftop Trail, as Fulmars circle smoothly around them and Shags flap clumsily by, with Herring Gull and Great Black-backed Gull passing by.
Peregrine, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk are all out hunting this morning, with a Raven circling above Tilly Whim and a Tawny Owl calling from the depths of the woods.