What a morning, the sky was for once visible and showing a lovely blue colour. Shining from it the bright yellowy-orange orb of the sun – seems like the first time for ages!! This brighter morning bringing more people out first thing to enjoy it.
Holding onto the small opening in the black metal bollard was a Blue Tit, this small bird peering into the darkness, perhaps prospecting for a cosy nesting site.
A Dunnock was on the ground, teasing some morsel from between the leaves, dark grey head and streaky brown body making for easy identification.
Further along a Blackbird was turning over large leaves, before it too discovered the food it has been looking for. Another Blackbird was sat in the branches of an Elder tree uttering blasts of its song.
Along the Diagonal Path the sound of Greenfinches, the ‘seeping’ call being echoed by other Greenfinches. It took me ages to spot these birds as they perched amongst the mass of rambling lengths of the Old Man’s Beard.
From above came the loud croaking sound of a Raven, scanning upwards, no sign of this large black bird until I spotted it on the top of the Mile Markers. It then took off and soared along the clifftops, wheeling round as it did so, showing off its wedge-shaped tail and long wings fingers as it did.
On the sparkling blue (ish) water were floating lots of Auks, the 44 Razorbills outnumbering the Guillemots today. Of the 30 or so Guillemots 5 were still in their winter plumage.
A Shag flapped past, a strand of weed in its beak - these birds start nesting earlier than many of the other birds.
Soaring Fulmars rising and lowering as I wandered along the coast.
Splashes of bright yellow flowers of Gorse along the coastline, while on the turf some basal rosettes of the Orchids are growing.