A very dark grey start, with the wind blowing a steady 25-30mph, in the distance the skies looked heavy with rain – for once this arrived just as I was completing my patrol!
The wildlife fairly quiet and hidden this morning, however a steady trickle overhead of Swallows and a few Sand Martins and House Martins. Their flickering flight different to the steadier wing beats of the finches which were also moving across the skies.
The Hereford Cattle munching on the grasses and browsing the scrub in the Meadows, at their feet a few Magpies and Carrion Crows, while cackling as they took off from the large Ash tree were two Jays.
A bright splash of red from the Blackthorn, was not an unusual Sloe, but a thick strand of berries of the Black Bryony, which had clambered its way through the branches – causing me to check!
On the European Spindle the pink double berries catch the attention, as do the fat juicy Blackberries still covering the Brambles.
A sudden flurry of activity saw 2 Chiffchaffs having a bit of a do, flitting one after the other along the hedge, then back again, occasionally coming together. This action disturbed a Blackcap (one with a brown cap) which had been feeding on the haw berries of the Hawthorn.
This hedge must have been a good spot, as Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Bullfinch were all affected by the action. The Bullfinch moving further along where it perched showing off the magnificent pink front and jet black head.
Along the woodland and downland edges, the patches of Hemp Agrimony have now gone to seed, and the large grey heads were being plucked at by Linnets near the diagonal path.
Down on the coast the waves rumbling in, as the weather deteriorates today, the seas should get bigger and from the observation point be worth coming to see!