Spring is really here! As I walk up through the woodland, leaves in every shade of green form a living canopy above my head. Somewhere among the towering Sycamores, Small-leaved Limes and towering London Planes, a Great Spotted Woodpecker drums from the canopy.
The yellow-green flowers of Sycamore are scattered around the woodland floor like confetti, among flowering Bluebells, Three-cornered Leek, Ramsons and countless thousands of Lesser Celandine flowers, shining up from the ground like little suns.
A pair of Grey Squirrels scamper and squabble among the branches of a Black Pine, with a glorious riot of birdong filling the air.
On Caravan Terrace, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood butterflies are on the wing or soaking up the sunshine on the rocky, south facing ledges. On the short turf below the cliff-face, the leaves of Bugle are starting to form dense patches – their copious blue flowers will be a treat for Bumble Bees later in the year.
As I stop at the Observation Point (the new path from the Sea Chart is now open) and glance over the edge, I find myself face-to-face with a Peregrine Falcon, staring back at me from just a couple of yards away.
Further along, the waves are covered with a bobbing ‘Bazaar’ of Guillemots and Razorbills, growling softly as they take time out from the crowded ledges above them, where the first eggs have now been laid.
Fulmars glide in smooth arcs around the cliffs, with Jackdaws making daredevil dives, Shags flapping ponderously by and a Great Black-backed Gull perches on a scruffy nest of dry grass and seaweed.
Out in the meadows, Cowslips cover some of the fields in dense swathes of bobbing yellow flowers, with Early Purple Orchids (starting to turn) and a few Early Spider Orchids (always a bit later in the meadows than on the downs).
Also in flower around the meadows, buttery yellow Birdsfoot Trefoil, the tall pink flowers of Sainfoin, a few delicate Pale Flax flowers, with many paths bordered with ‘tram-lines’ of Daisies.