A change in the wind. Southwesterlies building, blowing grey clouds and unsettled seas into Anvil Point. The Lighthouse stands firm overlooking the white caps at sea.
Swifts and Swallows gather around the light tower: A final departure point before crossing the channel. Gulls, a Raven, and small flocks of Woodpigeon also overhead.
Wispy white beards now fill the gully where the clematis Traveller’s Joy has seeded. It clambers up every branch of the competing vegetation and smothers it under its weight. Bryony berries are also draped through; now turned crimson-red to match that of the Rosehips, Haws and underripe Blackberries.
Few flowers remain across the exposed coastal slopes. Dead heads of Wild Carrot, Thrift and Thistle all tremor in the wind. Though some yellow petals can be found tucked under the grasses; Bristly Ox-Tongue, Ragwort, and a late Bird’s Foot Trefoil. Carline Thistles appearing unphased by the changing seasons, Field Mushrooms starting to grow.
Jackdaws cackle as their silhouettes rise into the sky. A lone Shag below the cliffs, beating its lofty wings. A few Gannets out at sea; a couple adults and a grey-feathered juvenile – wingspans even greater than that of the Shag.
Up the diagonal path, the grassland turns to scrub. A charm of Goldfinch flitting between the patches of Gorse, and a Stonechat sounding from atop an emergent Hawthorn. Next the scrub turns to woodland, and my ears attain a little respite from the wind. High thin notes from a Goldcrest, and a calling Great Tit, both amongst the flowering Ivy.
Common Marbled Carpet, Hedge Rustic, Willow Beauty, and Flame Shoulder, all identified in last night’s moth trap.