A cooler start to the day with a brisk wind blowing in from the channel. It sways the upmost tree branches along the coast path, the leaves rustle to echo the disturbed sea below. Notably, one patch of trees stand still – a group of leafless Elms by the Rest and Admire viewpoint which have succumbed to Dutch Elm disease.
A good number of Crows can be seen flying just off the viewpoint. A couple of them swoop around in the woodland and dive through the trees. When I received a stone delivery first thing this morning, Kevin the quarryman described spotting one with completely white wings – this is a genetic condition, called leucism, which causes a lack of melanin or pigmentation in the cells.
On my journey through the woods, a break in the canopy has enabled a colourful glade to thrive. Fleabane and Ragwort seeds have spread from the adjacent meadow, filling it with sunny yellow flowers. Pink Willowherb has also blossomed, and the dark red Sorrel provides a vibrant contrast against the green backdrop.
A colony of bright white Bracket Fungus have occupied a rotting tree stump. The coral-like shelves have spread outwards as it takes nutrients from the deadwood.
The hedges are beginning to ripen with a bounty of fruits. I spotted the first ripe Blackberries and Sloes, alongside bright red Rosehips, Bryony, and Honeysuckle berries. I could hear a family of Blue Tits chirping and churring from inside the scrub. One by one they appear and hop their way up into the Holm Oak.
On the other side of the hedge, a mischief of Magpies heckle one another in Long Meadow. And above the glade, lots of Gulls pass overhead; wings out-stretched, they make their way North. As I make my back to office, a repetitive ‘swee, swee’ rings out from Hawthorn tree. I couldn’t see what bird it was, but possibly a Kestrel or Sparrowhawk.