A beautiful winter morning, with just a hint of spring in the air! After a chilly night, frost fringes some of the paths around the meadows and sparkles around the feet of dry-stone walls as the sun rises – quite a change after the mild evening yesterday, when a Pipistrelle bat whizzed by just above my head as I walked home down the entrance road.
As I walked up through the woodland, the sky is gradually lit bright blue, though a dense bank of cloud hangs above the sea, all the way round from Peveril Point to St. Aldhelm’s Head.
The woodland floor is busting with new life, as shoots and flowers push their way up out of the cold earth. Near the Aviary Glade, delicate lilac Spring Crocuses are in bloom, with a patch of pure white Snowdrops nearby. Fresh leaves of Jack in the Pulpit, Cow Parsley, Herb Robert and Dog Violet all add their own shades to a growing palette of greens.
Around the glade, the male catkins of Hazel sway gently in the breeze, with the smaller pink female flowers also starting to emerge.
A Horse Chestnut is covered with sticky brown leaf buds, while on the woodland floor, Privet and Honeysuckle are also starting to leaf.
Lots of birdsong to enjoy, with the sweet notes of Blackbird and Song Thrush, the insistent song of Robins and accelerating song of Chaffinches, punctuated by the wheezing of Great Tits, raucous croaks of Jays, sharp ticks of Wrens and soft cooing of Woodpigeons.
Just outside the open office window as I write, a noisy pair of House Sparrows are investigating the eaves, filling the air with their raucous, excited chirps.
A lovely crimson Bullfinch is perched in the scrub above Caravan Terrace, while along the cliffs, Guillemots and 7 Razorbills bob and growl softly on the water. Fulmars carve their graceful arcs through the air above them, with a pair of Ravens ‘cronking’ as they circle above Tilly Whim.
Above the Tilly Whim steps, a single Adder soaks up the sun as she basks on a patch of bare earth.