Upon arrival, despite the rain, a male Blackbird was happily singing. Sitting in the hide birds were heard but not seen, perhaps due to our feeders being empty. The pond was full, and Buddleia was showing leaf development. I took time to admire the freshly laid hedgerow beside the Observatory. Laid low to the ground the hedgerow no longer got in the way of stargazing and would develop to provide a better corridor for small mammals and birds and would eventually become a better windbreak.
I found it curious that some of the best leaf development (Elder far ahead of the Hawthorn) was on the north facing edge of the wildlife garden. It made sense only where sunlight could break through the scrub thanks to rides cut for bird ringing. Overhead the Carrion Crows were only just heard and briefly glimpsed.
I could only have been a Wild Parsnip developing flowers in South Field. Another I had seen earlier in the month already showing its mustard colour. Daffodils were mainly at the meadow edge although a small clump appeared in the hay cut area. At last a pair of Carrion Crows we seen in the grassland.
Small scatterings of Blackthorn blossom were seen with a cluster in the north east corner of Skipworth Meadow. In said meadow I was excited to see beside a soggy path the spotted leaves in basal rosettes of Common Spotted Orchid. Meanwhile, on the margin with the Large Copse one Dandelion flower hugged the ground whilst the leaves of Cleavers, Nettles and Arum dominated the shaded edge. In the copse itself the passage of the wind could be heard through the branches and needles of Black Pine. Tall and slender Sycamore swayed in the wind between the larger trees. A reliable carpet of Winter Heliotrope leaves covered the western end of the copse. In taskers I heard a Song Thrush singing in its hedgerow shared with Smithfield. Along this edge Primrose were in flower. Whilst I peered through the scrub at ground level looking at what I suspected to have been signs of Badger activity, I was followed. It was a vociferous male Great Tit that called from the branches above. Silently a Blue Tit above performed beak wiping actions amongst the thorn. Back at ground level I was treated by spotting the silent movement of a Dunnock. Somewhere unseen a Chaffinch called.