Over the castle a group of five Carrion Crows fight against the wind, being buffeted in all directions. Down in the dell a lone Hellebore can be seen in flower. The lime green flower heads droop over at the top of the flowering stem, a big cluster of them giving the appearance of a bouquet.
I turn the corner at the bottom of the steep slope to be met with a cold bracing wind, while a Great Black Backed Gull fly’s past at head height fighting to stay on path. In a sheltered bit of Tamarisk, a Robin shouts over to his neighbour on the far side of the path.
The old flowering stems from a Burdock stand strong against the wind still with some burrs hanging on the ends waiting to Velcro themselves to an unsuspecting passer-by.
Out to sea a Shag fly’s high level with the top of the cliffs before ducking down and disappearing into the bottom of the cliff face. Two Fulmars loop in and out of the cliffs unfazed by bracing wind. The Guillemot ledge stands empty waiting for its occupants to come back from out at sea.
An uneventful walk back through the gully where the only things I spot are the usual Magpies, Carrion Crows, and Wood Pigeons. With some time to spare I head to the bird hide. I immediately spot two Goldfinch on one of the feeders before a bully of a Greenfinch boots them off the feeder claiming for his own. The same Greenfinch would go on to see off Great Tits, Blue Tits, a couple more Goldfinch and even one other Greenfinch claiming the feeder as his own property. Eventually the bird relinquishes his claim to the feeder and fly’s off allowing the other birds to eat. A Greenfinch and a couple of Goldfinch are having a drink of water at the edge of the pond.