A beautiful mix of clouds, with the lower cumulus moving at speed against a backdrop of mackerel sky. The beams through above the channel, alighting the sea in streams of sunlight. The entire skyscape turns an ominous grey to the west and blows a bitter wind across the park. 5 little Goldfinch are carried with it in a somewhat turbulent flight. I am unable to hear their song over the wind rushing past my ears.
On the clifftop, the wind shimmers up through the grassy slopes. Woodpigeons perch upon the sheltered rocky ledges above Tilly Whim, a few of them with a white plumage. A few Common Gulls pass overhead and a clattering of Jackdaw float above the Dolphin Hut. I count 5 or 6 Guillemots amongst the waves, each of them alone by themselves.
My walk takes me around into the woodland and sheltered from the prevailing wind. I can now hear the tinkering of the Goldfinch and the rush of the Woodpigeons are small flocks race overhead.
Most of the deciduous trees have now lost their leaves, with just single leaf left clutching to the Norway Maple sapling by the Play Trail. That said, a brilliant display of yellow can be seen on a stand of Elms by the car parks.
The Clathrus ruber Red Cage Fungus by the Turret Viewpoint has collapsed into a pile of red smush against the broken leathery white ‘egg’. Flies are still attracted to it’s pungent smell nonetheless – though you have to get your nose really close to smell it! There are some good showings of the bright yellow Witches’ Butter or Yellow Brain Fungus all around the woodland.