A beautiful morning for a walk, with the Park bathed in sunshine, making the yellow leaves of Blackthorn, Sallow, Sycamore and Elm gleam like gold and making the sea sparkle.
Overhead, many thousands of Woodpigeon are on the move, in flocks of up to 500, looking like a cloud of smoke in the distance, before passing overhead with a hissing of wings.
Goldfinches are also gathering into larger flocks, their crimson and gold plumage looking magnificent in the sunshine, with Linnets also passing through.
Above the Observation Point, a large flock of Crows is disturbed by the appearance of a Raven, quickly mobbed by it’s much smaller relatives, before flapping of towards the Castle, with harsh croaks.
Once again, the main ledges is crowded with Guillemots, making one of their brief winter visits, with a Peregrine Falcon gliding silently by just below the clifftop.
Flowering Ivy is attracting the attention of swarms of the Ivy Bees, with a few patches of Gorse still in bloom along the Diagonal Path.
A quick chat with the parkrun team, who are setting up outside the Castle, where we spotted 4 Wall Lizards already emerging to make the most of the sunshine – their bodies flattened to increase their surface area and collect as much warmth as possible.
Above the back meadows, a Buzzard wheels in lazy spirals, riding the thermals upwards with effortless grace.
The hedgerows are busting with activity, with Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Robins, Wrens, Blackcaps and Blue and Great Tits all feeding up. The Hips of Dog Rose are a magnificent shade of red among a tangle of silver Old Man’s Beard.