On an impulse this morning, I started my ‘early rounds’ with a stroll through the woods and I’m so glad I did, with the highlight of the morning for me, the sound of a Cuckoo – my first this year, calling from the woodland behind our neighbours houses – what a treat to wake up to on a sunny morning!
Elsewhere in the woods, the ‘chuckling’ of a pair of Green Woodpeckers and the drumming of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, accompanied by the calls and song of Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Robins, Wrens, Great Tits and Woodpigeons.
Grey Squirrels squabble and chase among the fresh green leaves, with a Horse Chestnut on the Woodland Path looking especially fine.
The woodland floor is carpeted with garlic-scented Ramsons (now covered with white flowers) and dotted with Bluebells, Three-cornered Leek, Lesser Celandine and Herb Robert, with tall stands of Cow Parsley swaying gently above them. The musk of a Fox hangs in the air, while the woodchips have been turned over by digging Badgers.
The meadows are looking spectacular at the moment, covered in many places with Cowslips, the first of the Pale Flax, Common Vetch and Early Purple and Green-winged Orchids. Overhead, Skylarks pour their exuberant song into the sky, with a few Swallows fluttering by on their way north.
On the downs, the short turf is dappled with blue Milkwort, with hundreds of Early Spider Orchids, the fluffy green flowers of Glaucous Sedge, with some of the first Cuckoo Spit (hiding a ‘bug-eyed’ straw-coloured Froghopper larva) of the year. The magnificent larvae of Bloody-nose Beetles can also be found – like a tiny black version of ‘Jabba the Hutt’ from Star Wars, though dusted with an iridescent green sheen, with the adults also lumbering along. The tiny, curious Adderstongue Fern can also be seen - a little like a miniature Lords and Ladies.
Holly Blue, Wall, Speckled Wood and Orange Tip butterflies on the wing in sheltered, sunny patches