A glorious spring morning, though for the first time in a week, I needed my fleece at the start of the Early Rounds (though not by the end!).
Along the clifftop, sunshine blazes on the sea, as Rock Pipits rocket high into the air, parachuting down in extravagant display flights. Below them, Guillemots and Razorbills bob on the sparkling water, as Fulmars glide smoothly by. Also on the wing, Shag, Cormorant and Great Black-backed Gull, with a Great Skua and 6 Manx Shearwater passing by in the distance spotted by regular birder Warren.
Dozens of Swallows and House Martins whizz in off the sea, going from tiny specks to a blur of wings just above my head in just a few moments.
A fuzzy-bodied Bee Fly hovers above the flowery verge – his long proboscis used for sipping nectar from flowers, with a pair of mating Bloody-nose Beetles among the longer grass.
On the downs, new species of flower are appearing almost every day, with new arrivals including Meadow Buttercup (joining the countless thousands of Bulbous Buttercups), patches of lovely lime-yellow Crosswort, Birdsfoot Trefoil and Kidney Vetch.
Thousands of Early Spider and Early Purple Orchids are in flower, along with dozens of Green-winged Orchids, with the first few green flowered Twayblades starting to appear.
In the Saxon Field, the tiny, curious Adderstongue Fern can be found – rarely bigger than my little fingernail, this strange plant almost resembles a miniature Cuckoo Pint. Nearby, the pom-pom flowerheads of Black Medick nestle among the grass, with the flowers of Salad Burnet forming a rusty haze above the shorter turf.
Well-trodden paths are bordered with Daisies, with Ribwort Plantain, with it’s white corona of petals also blooming.
Whitethroats make raucous displays above flowering Hawthorn, as Skylarks carol above the meadows, with a pair of Blue Tits chasing flirtatiously along the top of the Lighthouse Field.