It’s a little damp underfoot as I set out this morning with Goldfinch and Swallow moving across the sky. Dark cumulus clouds builds below the bright cirrocumulus. The usual song of Robin and Great Tit are heard, along with the high pitched ‘tsee tsee tsee’ Goldcrest.
Setting out upon the softened clay, I realise how green the grasslands appear once again, having been dried to a crisp for much of the Summer. Yarrow has welcomed the boost of moisture – plentiful feathery leaves topped with clusters of white flowers.
An array of red fruits adorn the hedges and scrub, with an abundance crimson Haws, and ruby Rosehips decorating thorny stems emergent through the Old Man’s Beard. Blackthorn grows thick with matt blue Sloes, with strings of scarlet Bryony berries draped through. Near the Gully bridge, the ground is carpeted with fallen Pears.
Walking past the Lighthouse, the sward grows short. Carline Thistles appear like thistles which has gone to seed, but are in fact in full flower with their distinctive golden brown flowerheads. Our last orchid of the year, Autumn Ladies Tresses, can no longer be found. Instead I find Slipper Limpet shells picked clean, and a broken Spider Crab carapace.
Rounding the rocky coast path, my ears attune to the usual piping Rock Pipit, but a different bird appears. Rusty orange breast, and a white rump fringed by black tail feathers: The Wheatear bobs its tail like a wagtail and appears in trepidation for it’s journey ahead across the channel.
The sea below us is choppy, with Shags patrolling higher than their usual low flight, and avoiding getting splashed by the wave crests. The breeze shimmers the Golden Samphire which grows everywhere across the rocks at Tilly Whim. It shakes the seeds free into the wind. Nearby, the Rock Samphire has flowered pale yellow atop its succulent green leaves.