A very grey morning blanketing the Park, with the sky and sea joining together to make the horizon hard to distinguish.
The sound of north–east wind blowing through the bushes the dominating noise of the patrol, but interspersed with the flocks of birds passing overhead.
Above the fields a flock of Meadow Pipits were heading north then they wheeled around and descended into the newly growing grass, disappearing amongst the green tufts, their heads popping up occasionally.
The other most numerous bird was the Goldfinches, large flocks of these ‘tinkle-ers’ swooping down into the deep red berry -laden Hawthorns, and into the tall remains of Woolly Thistles and Burdocks.
There are still a few Greater Knapweed flowers to be found, but most have now reverted to the silver disks, having lost their petals.
A few other flowers still blooming as the weather turns more autumnal are the two tone yellow of the Common Toadflax, more yellow from the Autumn Hawkbit, plus A few smatterings of Wild Parsnip, Wild Carrot and Yarrow. The Rock Samphire on the cliffs also still in bloom while most of the Golden Samphire has gone over.
The call of a Green Woodpecker alerted me to look left and I saw this large yellow and green bird in flight, but as it landed it disturbed a pair of Bullfinches, the male flashing its bright pink chest as it turned. In the nearby bush Blackcaps and Long-tailed Tits both flitting through.
No sign this morning of the Snipe which erupted from the longish grass outside the Centre yesterday, but keep an eye out for this type of wader as the weather turns.