First diary after Christmas! The first sounds I hear as I get out my car are a Song Thrush in the distance, and Robins calling.
Walking towards the lighthouse path, Blue Tits, Wood Pigeon, and Crows are spotted. Passing Sycamore and Field Maple, I take the Lighthouse Road – Wild Privet, Nettles, Brambles, Blackthorn, Hawthorn, Stinking Iris and Holm Oak surround the path.
Walking on, I stop to look at the beautiful sunrise amongst the distant and high clouds, and the small waves rippling through the English Channel.
Into the grazed, now Cattle-free Lighthouse Field, I notice juvenile European Gorse regrowing again after cutting the regrowth back in January and February. A Crow is spotted behind scrub as the bitter north-easterly wind hits the back of me. Close by, a Meadow Pipit is heard and the white fluff from the Old-man’s Beard surrounds me.
Stopping at the Gully Bridge, I hear and see a Song Thrush sing away south of me, as Robins call, and another Song Thrush sings away north of me.
Also spotted and heard were Blue-Tits, Wood-Pigeons, a Wren, Jackdaws in the distance, and a Magpie. As I stand, seemingly behind scrub and under the Brambles, I hear a Mistle Thrush calling away.
Onward towards the cliffs, another Robin is spotted, Herring Gull and a Shag. Passing Tilly Whim, lots of Guillemots, Jackdaws flying around, a Greater Black-backed Gull, and Cormorant.
At the viewpoint, many a Guillemot can be seen chilling on the English Channel, more Jackdaws, and Blue Tits heard amongst the Holm Oak to the right of me. It seems however, no Fulmars today, at least from what I could see.
Walking back to the Learning Centre via the Castle, I go into the small woodland – here flora such as Harts-tongue Fern, Shield Fern species, Ground Ivy, Stinking Iris, leafless Sycamore and Ash, as well as Holm Oak is seen. Fauna-wise, it’s the garden birds spotted and heard such as Great Tits, many a Long-tailed Tit, and a Blue Tits. Of course, I spotted the dreaded non-native/invasive Grey Squirrel, but I was then made happy by the beautiful bright red breast of our native Robin on an Ash tree.
My last diary of the year – Happy New Year!!!