This morning’s patrol started around the cliff tops, where the sea was rolling in against the limestone cliffs. Soaring and wheeling through the air were 3 Fulmars, a magnificent sight to watch, the narrow straight wings mottled grey with bright white heads and as they came very close I got a good chance to look at the tubes noses and black eye feathering – one of my favourite birds.
On the water a mass of Guillemots, well over 150 bobbing up and down with the waves, while many more flew in large circles out to sea and then back again. As I looked back towards the ledge from Tilly Whim area the ledge was sparsely dotted with Guillemots, all facing outwards showing their white fronts – obviously having been disturbed by something recently.
Also on the water were 8 Razorbills, looking even blacker than their closely related family members the Guillemots. Nearby 2 Shags showed off their breeding crests, the feathers now sticking out of the tops of their heads, the long necks and low bodies making them easy to identify compared with the 2 Cormorants which flew over, neither of these yet showing their breeding patches.
I continued my patrol by checking the Herefords, but my attention was taken by a Green Woodpecker flying in its usual up and down undulating flight pattern, the yellow rump showing brightly as it went. On landing it proceeded to probe one of the many Yellow Meadow Ant hills, the huge numbers of these any hills can be seen in all their glory now the cattle have cleared a lot of the tall grass, bracken and other plants from around.
Percolating through the air was the sound of Great Tit, the ‘teacher-teacher’ call being answered it seemed by one of their many other calls – the ‘churr’. Competing for recognition were the Blue Tits, their bright blue caps easily spotted in the bare branches of the Elm tree.
In amongst the tumbling mass of Old Man’s Beard a Dunnock skulked, an occasional squeaky calling being emitted. The sudden blast of a Wren’s alarm call, the bird perched on a low branch of the Blackthorn.