A beautiful autumn morning, with a fresh feeling, gentle breeze, blue skies and some brilliant sunshine giving no hint of the thundery weather likely later in the day.
The air is filled with birdsong as numerous charms of Goldfinches, jangling like sleighbells, roam the grassland, picking seeds from Teasels, Burdock and Old Man’s Beard, their red and gold plumage looking spectacular in the sunshine.
A few large flocks of Woodpigeon pass overhead, with a clattering of wings, along with a single Swallow (though there are still many more yet to depart). The calls of Redpoll and Siskin can also be heard from high overhead, with a few Pied Wagtail also on the move.
The piercing calls of a Goldcrest heard above the timeline, eventually spotted among the dense, dark-green canopy of a Holm Oak, with Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins and Wrens also foraging among the branches, as a Dunnock picks through the fallen leaves below.
Out along the Drove, a bustling family of Long-tailed Tits chatter as they feed among the scrub alongside the Drove, with Chaffinch and Blackbird heard from the depths of the bushes.
A scattering of flowers among the bronze stands of Tor Grass on the downs include Greater Knapweed, Autumn Hawkbit, Common Catsear, Bristly Ox-tongue and Red Clover.
A quiet morning at sea, with a few small groups of Cormorant heading east, and some distant Kittiwake going westwards. Closer to the cliffs, Shags, Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls are on the wing, with a Kestrel flying in to perch on the cliff-face.
Returning to the Centre, a Magpie swaggers up to me, her head tilted to one side as she watches me – her feathers refracting the sunlight to add a beautiful blue sheen to her plumage, making this already striking bird look quite stunning.