A quiet, grey start to the day, with the ground squelching pleasingly underfoot after a further 12mm of rain last night.
With just a breath of wind, bird calls pierce the air, from the cheerful jangling of Goldfinches (said to be reminiscent of sleighbells), to the chattering of Long-tailed Tits, the calls of Blue Tits, Great Tits and Wrens and the insistent song of Robins (a pair singing at each other across the Gully).
A pair of Ravens croak to each other as they wheel above the Lighthouse Field, before settling on the mile markers.
The bright blue wing feathers of a Jay catch my eye as it probes the turf on the Milepost Slope – probably burying Holm Oak acorns (most propagation of Oaks is due to forgetful Jays!), with another 3 perched in the Holm Oaks nearby.
Along the cliffs, Guillemots whir past on flickering wings with the main ledge crowded with birds popping in for a winter visit.
Further out to sea, ghostly Kittiwakes drift by, as Shags flap ponderously along closer to the cliffs.
A Peregrine Falcon perches in it’s usual spot below the Observation Point, with a Sparrowhawk seen (briefly), barreling along the Long Meadow hedge, before rolling over to the far side.
Out on the Downs, Field Mushrooms, Shaggy Parasols and Field Blewitts are in fruit. Fungi are also appearing in the woods, including the strange, puffy black Dead Man’s Fingers, purple Ear Fungus on Elder and bright yellow Witches Butter on rotten logs.
Near the Aviary Glade, a Treecreeper scuttles up the stem of a London Plane, with a Coal Tit darting around the canopy over ‘Rest and Admire’ and the piercing calls of a Goldcrest heard, but not seen above Caravan Terrace.