A promising gleam of amber hues peeked playfully through the otherwise dark and cloudy sky, suggesting the vague hope of a pleasant day. Although all looked calm from the relative safety of my car, the wind carried with it a piercing icy sting that could not be escaped.
The sky above was peppered with flocks of gleaming yellow Goldfinches accompanied by a few inconspicuous tag along Linnets, distinguishable by their dull red flanks, who were caught up in the group’s momentum. In the car park below a couple of Pied Wagtails waved at me with their tails in a playful greeting, while Crows and Ravens stalked ominously amongst the cars.
The air was alive with the sounds of bird music, Chaffinches chirped while Robins, Wrens, Great and Blue Tits engaged in important conversations in a glorious mid-air conference. I was greeted in the heartiest of manners by a herd of Hereford Cows who were engaged in blissfully rubbing their chins against the rugged drystone walls. I was filled with the acute joy that can only radiate from the quaint English tradition of sploshing through great puddles of mud on a fine winter’s day while a Rabbit stared at me with a look of consternation on its fluffy face.
By the lighthouse a family of Rock Pipits hopped across the cliff top with a Blackbird in tow, looking for a morning snack, while Magpies cackled and a Green Woodpecker bobbed up and down in its undulating flight. Out to sea an increasing number of Guillemots could be seen frantically flapping their wings below the soaring flight of Herring and Great Black Backed Gulls. Down by the water’s edge an Oystercatcher surveyed then probed the deep with its long bill. A sloth like Gannet lazily trundled past the horizon above the heads of Shags, Feral Pigeons and Jackdaws who went about their morning routines.