The dawn chorus was in full swing as I arrived at the park this morning; Great Tits, Robins, and Blue Tits all merrily tweeting away from a large Sycamore Tree. Amongst the understorey, Elder has sprouted its fresh green leaves, and furry buds have begun to emerge on the Willow.
Daisies, Celandines, and Grape Hyacinths add a splash of colour amongst the grasses around the car parks. House Sparrows chirp away from below the eaves of the Learning Centre, whilst a Grey Squirrel bounds across roof tiles.
It’s a lovely sunny and calm start to the day, with sounds coming from all directions. Gulls can be heard squawking high above the town to the North, a juxtaposition of tuneful Skylark songs and harsher sounds of the quarry workings to the West, and flurry of flapping Pigeons passing to the South. More occasionally a Chiffchaff can be heard running through it’s repetitive short calls.
I walk down to the cliffs and past the mile markers. Glancing to my left into the Goat Plot field, I see two pairs of large ears facing towards me. At first I thought they could have belonged to a couple of Hares, but it turned out to be two doe Roe Deer tucked behind a mound! We watch each for a while before they lose interest and walk off into the undergrowth below the Holm Oaks.
The soundscape continues down at the cliffs with Jackdaws, Guillemots, Rock Pipits and Fulmars all audibly making their presence known below the coast path. A male Stonechat sings from highest branches of a Tamarisk tree, and two Herring Gulls chatter from the ledges at Tilly Whim. It’s safe to say that the Foxes aren’t using the caves as a den this year, or the pair wouldn’t be sitting quite so comfortably on the open plateau!