It felt like quite a shift in gear arriving at work today, with heavy rain falling through dark gloomy skies, following the beautiful winter sunshine enjoyed yesterday, on the last day of the Christmas Holidays. Even clad in full waterproofs, it took a lot of motivation to step out of my car at eight o’ clock this morning!
Countless Crows and Magpies appear undeterred by the poor weather. They caw and screech from the trees, whilst a small flock of Woodpigeon take flight towards the Timeline. Here, a corridor between the Holm Oaks reveal the lights of Castle in the distance and a faint glow of the Sun in the beyond.
I take a steady jaunt through the woodland to find puddles pooling along the play trail. It’s difficult to listen out for bird song with my hood up and the wind whistling through the trees, but I do hear some Wrens, Robins, and a Great Tit. Under a Yew Tree near Solent Road I find the remains of what was a large Mushroom, thought it’s hard to tell what it was.
The rain appears to lighten and it’s the odd gust of wind which shakes heavy rain droplets down from the trees. So I decide to head down to the clifftop, only to find myself exposed to the full fury of the southerly gales.
Big swells roll into the cliffs and many of the Guillemots have opted for surfing over the huge waves rather than staying perched on the ledge, where much the colony has remained over Christmas. At a quick glance its hard to distinguish between the loosely rafting birds and masses of Seaweed torn up from the seabed.
Two Fulmars flew close to me as I made my way towards Tilly Whim. I catch a glimpse of the Lighthouse’s beam before turning my head to avoid the continuous pelting of raindrops. I thought I might have also seen a Peregrine, but it swiftly flew out of sight.