A very different morning, after the wild weather of the last few days, the wind has dropped to a gentle murmur, and a few scraps of bright blue are scattered across the sky. Out at sea, pools of brilliant gold sparkle beneath gaps in the cloud.
Spring is well and truly on the way! Out on the downs, pale blue Hairy Violets dapple the short turf – in just a few weeks time they will form a carpet of flowers, with darker blue Dog Violets and Wood Dog Violets in bloom among the scrub and woodland.
Pale yellow Primroses and butter yellow Lesser Celandine are flowering around the Aviary Glade, while garlic-scented Ramson leaves are starting to spread across the woodland floor, along with the leaves of Cuckoo Pint, Cow Parsley, Herb Robert and Cleavers.
Out in the Meadows, more Cowslips are in flower by the day (by the end of the month they will be looking spectacular), with the fine, curly leaves of Crow Garlic poking out from among the grass.
In sheltered corners of the hedgerows, Blackthorn is starting to break it’s buds, while the bright green leaves of Elder are starting to unfurl, while fluffy catkins are starting to appear on Sallow. Overhead, Skylarks hurl their breathless, rapturous, tumbling notes into the sky.
On some of the short, rabbit grazed turf in the Saxon Field, the flowers of Early Spider Orchids are almost ready to open, though none quite in flower yet, unless you know better?
A Buzzard slides through the air in lazy spirals above the back fields, with a pair of Ravens calling noisily to each other above the Large Copse.
As I write, a pair of Pied Wagtails in their smart black and white plumage strut across the grass just outside the Learning Centre, House Sparrows hurry in and out from under the eaves and a Blue Tit makes showy, fluttery display flights from the scrub opposite.