A real ‘nose in front of your face’ morning, with the Park covered in a thick blanket of fog for the early rounds, with a stinging, cold drizzle making me squint as I walked along the top of the downs and the rain trickled down the top of my wellies!
Despite the conditions, there are still a few hints that spring is not too far away! The wheezing calls of Great Tits are becoming increasingly insistent from among the scrub, with snatches of song from Song Thrush and Chaffinch also heard.
In the Car Parks, a Kestrel takes off from the grass, just a few feet away, before skimming along, just a metre or so above the ground to land again a few yards away.
Nearby, 3 Goldcrests hop among the branches of a Black Pine in the corner of the Car Parks, with the ‘yaffle’ of a Green Woodpecker heard from the mist over Long Meadow.
A Dunnock picks through the leaf litter near Reservoir Copse, with a large, squabbling family of Long-tailed Tits among the branches of the Silver Birch just over the road.
In Goat Plot, a few Redwing dart out from the hedge, while down at Tilly Whim, a bedraggled looking Peregrine clings to the cliff face.
3 Fulmars wheel in elegant arcs around the clifftops, with a few Guillemots on the water below the cliffs. Shag, Herring Gull and Great Black-backed Gull also seen.
The woodland floor is starting to get a little greener, with the leaves of Herb Robert, Cow Parsley and Lords and Ladies starting to emerge, with woodland fungi including Dead Man’s Fingers, King Alfred’s Cakes, Candlesnuff Fungus, Yellow Brain and Oyster Fungus all in fruit at the moment, to name just a few.
A Coal Tit hops among the dense canopy of Holm Oak leaves, with a Blackbird poking around in the soft turf of the Aviary Glade.