A few days since I walked through the woodland, so off down the hill to find the wind blowing through the bare branches of Ash and Sycamore making them clash together, this constant rattling accompanied the rest of my stroll.
On the ground a few pale yellow Primrose flowers as well as the usual clump of lilac coloured Spring Crocus with patches of bright yellow Daffodils nearby. The delicate white bells of Snowdrops caught my eye, a green stripe visible along the petal. This is always an exciting time of year as we watch to see what flowers emerge.
With the sound of a Blackbird, I looked up into the Beech tree to see one of these thrushes on opposing branches – was it a sing off or a stand off from these two yellow beaked males?
The loud ‘yaffle’ of a Green Woodpecker rang out through the woods, but no sighting of this large resident, however the bright blue flash of a Jay’s wing did catch my attention, as it veered around the huge trunk of a Macrocarpa to land in the Horse Chestnut.
A churring of Blue Tits, the rich song of a Wren and the musical tune of a Song Thrush added to the chorus.
Sweeping along between the hedgerows of a newly widened path was a Sparrowhawk, the pale stripey chest spotted as it banked past me, the dark wide wings very obvious as it carried on over the top of the bushes to skim low across the meadow.
At the cliffs the ledges were bare, while on the water 13 Razorbills mingled with 10 Guillemots, their darker colour and chunkier beak easily visible as they bobbed on the grey sea.
In the distance a report of a Red-throated Diver, while around the rocks a Shag and a couple of Fulmars were in flight.