Even from the car park I could hear waves licking the cliff foot and shifting boulders. Amongst the skeletal trees there was only slight branch tip twitching. Reliably Blackbirds, Robins, Great Tits and Blue Tit were being verbal.
There Isle of Wight was not visible. Upon a Holm Oak a Grey Squirrel scampered amongst the leaf cover. A Black Pine seamed to have drifted at a greater angel heading towards the Dell. Approaching the castle both Raven and Carrion Crow calls were heard. I struggled to determine whether the two tiny birds amongst Ash masts were Fire Crests or Gold Crests.
Today the caravan terrace rock face had a steady flow of several small splashing waterfalls. Protruding some thirty centimetres from castle retaining walls were stems of Valerian.
From the sea chart a slither of golden sunlight was growing and glowing between cloud. More uncertainty regarding forty Feral Doves, which later looked more Racing Pigeon like when clung to the fissured sea cliff face. Off the cliffs a quartet of Fulmars was circuiting over the sea. Beneath them the occasional, solo Guillemot left or returned to the cliff base. It was a delight to discover that nearly half the raft of birds upon the sea were Razorbills, the rest Guillemots .Today some sixty of our “flying penguins” were within the cliff cave ledge. A silent Oystercatcher flew east over the brine.
It was not until the Measure Mile Markers were reached that the calls of Jackdaws were heard. One group about the cliff another around the Lighthouse of course. One pair huddled together on the apex of a gable end. At the gully mouth there was occasional spurts from the blow hole. Finally, sun broke through the cloud and patches of blue sky emerged. Already a tight ground hugging Orchid basal rosette had signs of Rabbit nibble. Of course, a Pheasant had to put in an audible appearance before I crossed the absent electric fence line onto the gully slopes. From above the gully rock exposure, I looked across the opposite side an admired the bounty of crust and branching Lichen upon mostly Hawthorn. As I ascended further up the steep slope I found some wind-blown Welk Egg Casing transported from the sea.
At the southeast corner of Small Copse several Winter Heliotrope flowers bloomed. Inside I discover two odd trees, these were Yews whose branches were fortunately above cattle browse height. Before the office a Robin sang from amongst a plethora of Haws.