Out to the farmland meadows this morning to have a check on the Hereford Cattle and grass situation, they are getting a bit short of food so they’ll be moved in the next couple of days to the north west quarter of Saxon meadow.
In the sky all around, it seemed, were Skylarks, a most gorgeous sound powering down from the blue sky, with more of these brown birds flitting around the longer grass.
While searching for the tiny dots in the sky a swooping Swallow came into view, the dark blue back catching the sunlight as it flew. More of these migrants will be making their way across the country so keep an eye out for them.
I was hoping to see a Whitethroat perched in the scrub, but sadly not, one was reported yesterday. However while looking the birds were in full song, with Blackbirds and Robins competing with Dunnock and Wren for airspace while Great Tits were performing a range of different calls and tunes.
My favourite today though was the flocks of Linnets, their twitter easy to recognise and the pale pink breasts contrasting with the flash of grey on the predominantly brown bodies.
The hedgerows are starting to show splashes of Bluebells alongside the pink of Herb Robert and the white of Blackthorn flowers. More surprising was seeing 3 pink Cyclamen flowers, in a spot I’d never spotted them before.
Many of the fields are now going yellow as the Cowslips emerge in large numbers, and across the park Daisies are in their element with Dandelions and Lesser Celandine also in good numbers.
A return along the cliff tops where Guillemots were gargling loudly, but on the water were 31 Razorbills, a very high number which shows that this population is successfully growing.
Basking on the rock face was a large female Adder, with a Common Lizard spotted on a nearby capper of the dry-stone wall.