A rather chilly start to the day, though a nice treat as I arrived in the office, as a pair of Bullfinches (male and female) strutted side by side across the short grass just outside the Learning Centre, the male looking particularly fine with his vivid crimson breast.
Dropping down into the Lighthouse Field, the short turf is covered with hundreds of fuzzy green and brown Early Spider Orchids, jumbled together with swarms of tall, pink Early Purple Orchids. Here and there, Green-winged Orchids are also in bloom – a little smaller that the Early Purples, with a more open inflorescence, green veined side petals and no black spots on their leaves.
The shortest grass is studded with pale blue Milkwort, with a nice patch of the unusual, square-stemmed Crosswort, with it’s green-yellow flowers – a relative of the Ladies Bedstraw which will appear later in the year.
Several Wheatears, with their distinctive white rumps flit among yellow-flowered Gorse, with Stonechats also darting through the scrub.
Blackthorn is covered with a white foam of blossoms, while down in the Gully ’50 shades of green’ (at the very least!) can be seen, with Pear, Sycamore, Hawthorn and Ash all covered with fresh leaves.
A few Swallows and a Skylark pass overhead as I head down towards the Lighthouse, with a pair of gleaming white, cream and black Gannets passing close to the cliffs.
A little further along, the air is filled with the soft growls of Guillemots as they bob on the water below the ledges, with many more on the cliffs. A few, blacker Razorbills are scattered among the raft.
Fulmars circle stiff-winged above them, with huge Great Black-backed Gulls gliding by, and Shags and Jackdaws both seen with beaks full of nesting material.
Primroses form a sea of pale yellow on Caravan Terrace, with Bluebells and Daisies making an attractive spring carpet.