We revisited Fosbury Down on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border at the weekend. It is an easy downland walk ending at an iron age hillfort. There were clear blue skies and a heathaze that limited visibility; unusual so early in the year. At the beginning of the walk there was a sparrowhawk circling; there are plenty of them these days while I never saw them in my childhood.
The fields looked white (from chalk and flint) with just a green hint of the crops growing through. The woodland had plenty of dog's mercury, wild arum, bluebells and wild garlic. The bluebells were just beginning to flower so too early to see a 'blue haze'. With no leaves on the trees the woods had a light quality and it was easier than usual to see the roe deer. Above the wood you could hear buzzards calling.
At the top of the down there was the song of skylarks. There are one or two very splendid beech trees on the edge of the hillfort that are a lot wider than they are tall with roots exposed by the ditches. We saw a soaring bird or prey rising out of the valley and visible above the ramparts. It was a single red kite. We have occasionally seen red kites in the area; including one occasion further north when we saw eight at a time! There were plenty of buzzards - most in pairs, but there was one group of four soaring.
A surprisingly good early April day.
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