A beautiful morning with a temperature of 10 degrees already and a delightful SE wind of 1mph, it is going to be a hot one today. As I walked up South barn path the sounds of House Sparrow, Robin and Blue tits filled the air. The blossoming Blackthorn has been shedding some of its blossom in the recent winds creating a covering of white across the footpath. The pink flowers of an Apple tree are now showing, an Elder tree in almost in full leaf and a pair of Blackbirds search along the path further up.
As I entered Saxon field a Whitethroat sang its scratchy tune from the top of a Hawthorn. The Whitethroats are just arriving from northern Africa and like rough, thorny bushes and nettle patches, Saxon field it perfect for them. Today this was my favourite sighting, I am not sure if I saw 6+ or 1 was following me around the entire field! I watched them around every corner calling from the top of the bushes and singing vertically in flight, dancing like a puppet. I also believe I saw a Lesser Whitethroat. Bird identification has just become very tricky with an influx of migrants I am constantly drawing pictures and searching through my bird book to find some kind of ‘small brown bird’
I continued my walk around Saxon spending the whole hour in the same field, listening, and watching. Salad Burnet flowers are now protruding from the green Tor grass, Early Purple Orchids are scattered in the longer grasses and Cowslips add a covering of yellow to the diverse colours and shapes. As I headed towards a rough patch of ground to look for Early Spider Orchids a Rabbit hopped past and into a dense scrub patch. As I searched the ground for Orchids I kept getting distracted by birds, but unable to move for fear of stepping on one.
On the south boundary in the thick scrub patches I saw a pair of Linnets moving through the scrub, a Dunnock sang from on top of a wind shaped Hawthorn and the sound of a Green Woodpecker came from behind. Skylarks sang from above, as I tried to find the Chiffchaff, I could hear singing and then a flash as I turned quickly to see two Swallows flying in. Finally, I had walked the entire boundary and my final spot was a pair of Chaffinch’s. Such a great mosaic of habitats across this one area.