Very wet and misty.
A miserable day after the sunny days that we have had recently. At least the high winds have dropped meaning that it is a lot warmer.
Many of the first broods of chicks are out and about now. Robins and Hedgesparrows were seen this morning following parents, calling persistently.
Greater Spotted Woodpecker and a Treecreeper were the most unusual birds seen today with most of the more common species either seen or heard. There did seem to be a lot of House Sparrows down the lane today, certainly making plenty of noise. There are hundreds of small Oak trees popping through the grass in the woods. These are probably as a result of Jays forgetting where they had buried acorns during the Autumn.
Highlight of the day today was to see two Fallow Deer browsing on a Hawthorn tree. I guess they ere only about twelve metres from where I was standing. They soon caught sight of me and melted away into the undergrowth. I saw them again about five minutes later as they came into the Oak wood further down the road.

Warm and Sunny after overnight rain.
Yesterday afternoon we paid a visit to a nearby Wildflower Meadow, run by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. What a sight. The floor is almost covered in an abundance of flowers. All the shady parts, under the hedges etc. are filled with Bluebells with a smattering of Lady Smock. The bulk of the open spaces are a mass of colour. Dandelions both in flower and loads of fully open seed heads. Plantain, Cowslips in large numbers and loads of species that I cannot name. What we had come to see of course were the Green Winged Orchids. Were we disappointed, no we were not. GWT say that there could be 50,000 flowering in this one meadow, about three acres. I know that I haven't enough fingers and toes to count them all. What a sight. Mostly dark purple in colour, there are a few that are pink and we even found a white one. Orange Tip Butterflies abounded, I have never seen so many in such a short space of time plus there were a few Peacocks, Tortoiseshells both large and small.
Nettles grow profusely around the edges of the meadow and Buttercups are everywhere. There was also a lot of Dock, of which some of the larger leaves were covered in Flies. What that was about, I cannot imagine.

The Ring Necked Pheasant above is a very dark breasted individual, the first I have seen like that around here. Mistle Thrush feeding a youngster was the first fledgling that I had seen this year.
The above is I believe a Crab Spider hiding in a Narcissus "Cheerfulness". I guess it won't be so cheerful if some unsuspecting insect arrives looking for nectar.