Very much ‘the calm after the storm’ this morning, as the still air is warmed by bright autumn sunshine and the park basks beneath a bright blue sky, with drifts of high white cloud.
Birdsong fills the still air, with the bright jangling of Goldfinches mingling with the soft coo of Woodpigeons, ‘cronk’ of Ravens, harsh croaks of Jays, ‘tutting’ of Wrens and insistent melodies of Robins – a real treat just to stand with my eyes closed and soak up the music!
Overhead, Swallows and House Martins swirl and swerve as they feed, gathering numbers and increasing their bodyweight before heading south. Sweet, but broken fragments of song from Skylarks tumbles down, along with the flight calls of Siskin and Meadow Pipits.
Above the Dell, a Bullfinch perches among the Blackthorn – even at this time of year, his crimson plumage looking very fine against the drab winter scrub. Among the high canopy nearby, the piercing calls of a Firecrest ring out, though impossible to spot. That said, good views of it’s ‘cousin’ – a Goldcrest, picking it’s way through the fronds of a Black Pine in the corner of the car parks.
Also on the wing, Greenfinches, Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, feeding among the tangle of Bryony, Honeysuckle and Old Man’s Beard in the hedgerows. In South Field, a cock Pheasant is silhouetted against the rising sun as he perches on top of a hay bale (before panicking as I approach and scuttling off to the safety of a nearby hedge.
A few Red Admirals still on the wing, sipping nectar from flowering Ivy, with Speckled Woods circling sunny patches along the woodland paths.
A sparkling sea laps gently against the cliffs, with a Shag flapping along below the cliffs, a Great Black-backed Gull circling steadily on broad, powerful wings and a Peregrine Falcon streaking by like a grey missile just a few metres below the path.