The storms are settled, their anger spent, at last they’ve left this place
And now more gentle weather holds the park in its embrace
The morning rests my mind and soul, it soothes me like a balm
Like the day I am at peace, mellow, serene and calm
The Ash trees outside the Learning Centre were well populated this morning, with Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Magpies and Carrion Crows all sitting and making noise in their branches. I decided on the Small Copse as an initial destination and made my way over, spotting a Rabbit emerging timidly from a Hawthorn hedge. The park was coated in a layer of light frost, not quite enough to firm up the muddy paths, but it still looked very pretty.
Around Small Copse several Song Thrushes were delivering their contribution to the dawn chorus. Delightful. After several minutes of scanning I even managed to spot one of the singers, alighting on a Blackthorn branch. The distant yaffle of a Green Woodpecker complimented the performance nicely, as well as the intermittent caws of a solitary Jackdaw.
Travelling above the gulley, I came across an unexpected display of colour in the form of a Cock Pheasant, ambling along the path with a zig-zag gait. I moved past it without a scene, and as I was mounting the style into Hogget Mead I spotted a Peregrine Falcon sitting on a rock and sunning itself. At least, I think it was a Peregrine. By face and shape I’d say it was, but by size it was more Kestrel like.
I made my way over the downlands to the Lighthouse, where I was fortunate enough to see a Rock Pipit performing its parachuting display. At the Tilly Whim Caves, a Raven sat Cronking amidst the tumbled stones. The Guillemots were also out, filling the ledge and floating on the water in a raft some twenty strong.
Back at the Learning Centre, several House Sparrows flit about the building. Inside, as I begin to write I hear a report over the radio. One of our volunteers spotted an Adder whilst collecting litter. Put together with the one seen last Sunday, and that makes two.