8th May from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth

Last night a whitethroat sat on the clifftop fence and gave a few bars of its warble before nodding to me and flying off. Sometimes we get excited about the more unusual visitors and forget birds like the robin whose beautiful, clear flutey song echoes off the canopy of trees even on a dull, drizzly, damp day like to day. Robins are so numerous and like to be aroound people that we tend to overlook them and their song. Yet they are one of the few birds that sing all the year round and provide entertainment by the way they come and sit nearby hoping for crumbs. And during the spring and summer we are amused by their belligerent behaviour to any other life form that raises their ire. They will attack anything coloured red, thinking it’s a rival. I have seen one throwing itself against the bonnet of a bright red Ford Fiesta in a carpark in a fit of jealous rage. And there they are on this miserable May morning, four, five of them singing their intricate songs as long and loud as any blackbird.

From 8th May 2022

The sky is speedwell blue with just the occasional spreading trace of a contrail. It is warm enough for sun worshippers to lie out on the green and for families to gather on the beach. The sound is of children delighting in the waves. The sun shines but there is the usual nippy on-shore breeze to make sure everything is in order. In the lighter streams that snake across the indigo sea rafts of gulls congregate in huge numbers. They must have found shoals of littles fishes to provide that much interest. As the sun begins to dip big shadows and a hazy glare makes walking through the trees an adventure in a secret land. #westcliffgreen #bournemouth #spring #may

From 8th May 2021

A buffeting cold wind and lashing rain from a leaden sky. A constant roar from the sea. The soft green grey ears of grass are bent double by the storm. Only the bracken, now a couple of feet tall manages to stay stiffly upright. A robin finds something to sing about.

From 8th May 2011

The skies getting lighter over Will's Mum's way