A wild and windy morning, with strong south-westerly swinging through the park. Holm Oak branches rock ferociously and scatter the paths with twigs and leaves. Red berries roll across the footpaths where the trembling Hawthorn shakes them free.
Respite can be found on the easterly slopes, where the sheltered branches sway softly, and allow you to listen to the rumbling of pebbles in the bay below. House Martins and Sand Martins gather in flight above, swooping and soaring with speed. Meadow Pipits are gathered too, piping as they pass across the sky.
Here, a Hummingbird Hawkmoth busies itself hovering along the exposed rockface, pausing in flight to investigate any flowers, using its long proboscis to collect nectar, wings a blur of movement as they beat relentlessly fast. This year has been a bumper year for Hummingbird Hawkmoths with sightings most days through the Summer.
I take time to pause upon the wooden bench and take in the calls of various birds – chirps from Robin, churrs from Great Tit, the tinkling of multiple Goldfinch, and the continuous high-pitched whistles of Goldcrest. I catch a glimpse of a grey-feathered Spotted Flycatcher moving up from the Hemp Agrimony and into the Willow above.
I head down along the coastal path and turn west into the wind. Tamarisk rocks to and through beyond the windy wall, with Jackdaw scattered in flight. Some lovely lilac Sea Aster remains in flower, along with the succulent Rock Samphire growing out from crevices across the wall. A brave Bloody-nosed Beetle ascends to the top of a coping stone, whilst I have to rescue another, blown onto its back.
A little splash of colour found on my return to the office, with a lovely Common Carder Bee nestled within the purple petals of a Greater Knapweed growing close to the ground.