Tuesday 7 May 2019

Morning walk in the woods

Rampton wood and meadow, 7th May 2019, 8.30-9.30am, partial cloud, bright, calm, 7-8 deg

A grey squirrel scurried up the oak tree in the churchyard as I passed by and a pair of Dunnocks flew along the fence. Today I opted to first cross the meadow where buttercups, dandelions and grasses swayed very gently and a bird (unidentified) called with a high pitched single note.

The crops in the next field are beginning to show now and the ditch has a little water. Magpies and wood pigeons called out from the trees.

I stopped to have a look up The Cut and noticed two very small warblers in the reeds on the bend. Having taken a quick photo and checking at home I think they were Whitethroats.

Whitethroat


Back into the woods and the cow parsley is now around shoulder height. The woods are green and dense and it is difficult to make out the birds and yet it is noisy with calls - blackbirds, thrushes, great tits. The undergrowth rustles as I approach - blackbirds or rabbits - and flies appear as I brush the grass.

A tiny Chiffchaff's big voice fills the canopy as I come to the large oak trees with their leaves bright and new, unfurling fully now. The undergrowth is encroaching the pathway, nettles, sticky weed and cow parsley the greens interspersed every now and then with a touch of hot pink from the Red campion.

Red campion


Out of the wood and along the path towards the church a small tree is covered in tiny bees enjoying the yellow flowers and two Long-tailed tits hand from the branches. A woodpecker (probably Green) calls across from the fields beyond the hedge.

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