I discovered the Herford cattle as being in South Field and the bit by Katies place. I sent up one then another Magpie from the ground spotted with cow pats. Half a dozen cattle sheltered under the canopy of the Small Copse as the wind roared through above. One Red Clover flower had escaped the hay cut and the cattle grazing, so far…
Upon the downland two heavily loaded Woolly Thistle stems had been blown over. This was to be both the last and windiest morning of the month. I disturbed a Roe Deer in a grassy quarry hollow above the demonstration quarr. It charged into thorny cover, discretely emerged before disappearing again into another clump. A solo Goldfinch fought the wind over the gully. The grassland mimicked the rolling sea. An immature Herring Gull headed west whilst a Greater Black Backed Gull perched above an empty cliff cave. Jackdaws showed some activity about and above the cliffs as a Shag either arrived at the foot of the face. Eventually, I was rewarded at seeing the expected Gannet flying west low over the swells. Not far behind was a second being dark plumaged juvenile.
I enjoyed the shelter of the ravine at the gully mouth. It was a treat to find a Kestrel sheltering out of the wind on a depression on the foghorn housing. I walked into the wind where ahead a clump of Tamarisk wobbled like a jelly. On this corner there were a few white Sea Campion flowers still out. I saw the first of five Fox Moth caterpillars upon the short turf of the green. A Raven croaked whilst passing overhead. Poisonous Bittersweet berries hung beside Blackberries both plants having used Blackthorn for support. The saggy telephone lines swayed over the lighthouse compound, with one stretched such that a lay upon the outbuildings roof tops. A Field Scabious flower was beneath the wires. A trio of Jackdaws moved deeper into Sycamore cover whilst another half dozen flew across the gully. Under this large seven stemmed Sycamore was a little wood pasture with fern and Stinking Iris plants. The latter held corncob like seed pods, some of which had split revealing orange / red fruits inside. I observed a slender bare stem of an Apple tree showing much dead wood and Woodpecker holes. Despite this it had a healthy crown of leaves. I passed a small charm of Goldfinches and Meadow Pipit on the way back. By the centre a Pied Wagtail was slowly progressing against the wind.