A calm morning with a cool gentle breeze. Mid-January and the Sun is still not quite yet out at 8 o’ clock, so its still dark amongst the trees. Crows caw in the distance, whilst a Dunnock chirps from the gloomy woodland.
Just minutes later and it begins to break above the horizon, and in an instant alights the sea. It glows upon the Tamarisk topped cliffs and alights the Great Globe. Shadows are cast beyond the dead heads of Burdock, Teasel, Charlock, and it warms the Holm Oak forest.
Jackdaws scatter from around the observation point. They playfully duck, dip, and dive with an impressive speed and agility, before settling on the coastal path and the adjacent dry stone wall.
Fulmars soar in their looping flight pattens to and from the cliffs. The trill of a Guillemot can be heard and one by one they break away from the rocky ledges. A small raft of them bob on the water, just past a long trail of seafoam. Together they wobble like jelly on the unsteady surface.
The auks are dwarfed by the great wingspan of a passing Shag. It glides low above the water, not using one bit of energy as it is carried hundreds of metres.
The Cows are now grazing in the Lighthouse Field. An electric fence line keeps them away from the cliffs; from the Mile Markers it drops into the Gully, before climbing a steep ascent to the Lighthouse. A Blackbird watches over them with a corvine inquisitiveness.
The flutter of Goldfinch and Meadow Pipit can be seen atop the blossoming Gorse.
A single yacht, sails up, floats out at sea. What a glorious morning to awake on a boat.