A dry, but breezy start to the day, though the sky is dappled with ominous grey cloud among patches of blue, hinting at some showers later. Nonetheless, a nice morning for a stroll, as spring works it’s magic across the Park!
Birdsong is growing in volume and variety, with a Coal Tit in song in the car parks – similar to the ‘squeaky bike pump’ song of Great Tits, but more even and perhaps more piercing? The accelerating song of Chaffinches rings out from hedges and scrub all over the Park, with the soft ‘schwee’ of a Greenfinch in a Sallow just outside the Learning Centre.
In South Field, a spray of Blackthorn blossom bursts out of hedgerow, with lots more in bud, with a nearby Hawthorn covered in bright green leaves.In the Saxon Field, Hairy Violets dapple the ground, with the leaves and buds of Early Spider Orchid easy to spot at the moment, though none in flower just yet. White-flowered Hairy Bittercress is in bloom on an anthill, with the related Whitlow Grass (not a grass!) found in flower a little further along.
Also found on an anthill, a curled Green Woodpecker poo, looking a little like cigarette ash and filled with shiny ant carapaces.
Around the gateways, where the grass has been worn away by walkers boots, lots of fresh spoil from fledgling anthills, as Yellow Meadow Ants are expanding their homes or moving house! Broadleaf Plantain is also spreading across these areas – it’s leathery leaves very resistant to trampling.
Skylarks are in good voice this morning, reeling out their breathless song, with a territorial scuffle between two Skylarks in Centenary, as 3 more sing around us.
Cowslips are becoming more plentiful, though still just a scattering across the meadows, with the corkscrew leaves of Crow Garlic poking up above the short grass.
At Tilly Whim, a large patch of Early Scurvy Grass (not a grass either!) is covered white flowers, while below the cliffs, Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmars, Herring Gulls and Jackdaws are all on the wing.