What a lovely surprise for the morning patrol, with the National Nature Reserve bathed in a gentle yellow glow as the sun rose above the horizon. The chilly northwest wind keeping the temperature down but glorious.
My delight was increased by the sight of a male Bullfinch perched on the edge of a Blackthorn scrub patch, his chest a brilliant bright pink. Nearby a duller coloured female was sat, seemingly observing.
The sound of birdsong is continuing to increase as both the Great Tits and the Blue Tits are calling, their movements through the bushes watched in snatches as they appear and disappear.
A wander into the lighthouse field to check on the Herefords and the water supplies, the cattle will be moved in the next couple of days having grazed the rough grassland, bramble and scrub.
A rustle in the hedgerow made me turn my head, expecting a small cow, instead it was a Fox, splendid in the rays of sun, the ginger colour catching the light and the fur flecked with silver, the tail topped with a white.
From the Large Copse came the calling yaffle of a Green Woodpecker, the bird then emerged from the top of the Black Pine, undulating across the sky until it alighted on the smooth lichen covered trunk of an Ash tree.
The leaves of our woodland plants emerging, with Lords and Ladies especially noticeable alongside Hart’s Tongue Fern and the long thin Stinking Iris.
In a sheltered glade, from amongst the short turf a single deep violet coloured flower seen, this Common Dog Violet one of many to be in flower soon.
Further along a scattering of Primroses, both leaves and a few flowers, while in the meadows the first Cowslips have just begun to raise a head.
On the water below the cliffs 4 Razorbills bobbing alongside 50+ Guillemots, 2 of which are still in their winter plumage the others all in summer splendour.
Last night, the Tawny Owl was ‘twooing’ the sound filling the otherwise silent air as above the stars were out.