After yesterdays crashing seas and strong winds a much calmer patrol this morning in the early sunshine. Down to the cliffs to enjoy the gentle waving of the water, skimming above it a couple of Shags, their long necks and dark bodies flapping, then gliding until they landed on the rock just above the water where they stood upright on their large webbed feet, their feathers catching the sun and turning a shimmering dark green.
Further out the large white wings of Gannets could be seen, 5 of them spotted as they glided just above the blue sea.
A patch of dead Teasels attracted a flock of Goldfinches, their gold wing bars flashing they caught the sunlight. Some were gently teasing seeds from the spiky seed heads, others just perched and twittering!
Hovering above the rough downland a gorgeous Kestrel, the bird quivering in the breeze, as it searched for signs of breakfast below.
A sudden call of a Peregrine Falcon brought this speedy predator to my attention as it zoomed westwards before swooping upwards and then gliding mush more slowly.
A little later, my third bird of prey of the morning was a Sparrowhawk, hugging the edge of the hedgerow as it glided along. Having had good vies of all three in a short space of time their differences seem so obvious!
The sound of a Wagtail made to look towards the lighthouse and their running along the top of the wall was this black and white Pied Wagtail, while overhead the deep throated croak of the Raven added to the noise of the morning.
Down by my feet the a patch of dried grass along with some green leaves of Ladies Bedstraw, and on this was a Greater Bloody-nosed Beetle, perhaps still looking to lay some eggs of the bedstraw which is the food plant for their dark green larvae. A close look at the beetle and it was not black as it initially appears, but dark blue, with brighter blue joints.
A large patch of Blackthorn, awash with purple sloe berries, was being used as a perch for a Stonechat. From here it was chatting away then getting a response from another Stonechat perched nearby on the top of the spiky green Gorse.
As the sun warms a Red Admiral took flight, the butterfly showing its red and white and black markings both as it flew and then as it landed on the dead head of the Hemp Agrimony. A Large White was making the most of the last few Buddleia flowers as was a Hummingbird Hawkmoth – probing inside for nectar.