A glorious autumn morning, with bright blue skies, scuffed with high cloud and a gentle northerly breeze wandering through the grasses.
Joined for the morning rounds by one of our new Apprentices, Rosie – do say hello if you meet her out on the Park.
The most striking feature of the morning, was the continuous swirl of Swallows (including many young ones, lacking the long tail streamers of the adults) and House Martins overhead. Perfect conditions for them as they feed on tiny ‘aerial plankton’, feeding up in preparation for the long journey ahead.
Around the clifftop, noisy gangs of Jackdaws squabble and feed, with the harsh ‘cronks’ of a Raven heard, and eventually seen among the Jackdaws – a huge bird, with a diamond shaped tail and heavy bill.
A few twittering charms of Goldfinches among the hedgerows, their crimson and gold plumage looking magnificent in the bright morning sun.
Caravan Terrace was fairly quiet this morning, with the calls of Dunnock, Song Thrush, Blackbird and the ticking of a Wren, though Hamish had been there a few minutes later and managed to spot a Firecrest among the Holm Oaks just above
Strolling up through the Lighthouse Field, a Badger ‘latrine’ spotted – the droppings full of the seeds of the Blackberries which with they have been stuffing themselves! Nearby, the ‘cigarette ash’ droppings of a Green Woodpecker, and pieces of a Guillemot egg-shell, probably dropped by a Raven, on top of a Yellow Meadow Anthill.
As the summer draws to a close, there are still plenty of flowers in bloom, including Sea Aster, Rock Samphire and Thrift along the clifftop, with Wild Carrot, Rough Hawkbit, Bristly Ox-tongue, Red Bartsia, Hop Trefoil and Ragwort on the downs.
A cornucopia of fruits and berries at the moment, including dusty blue Sloes, translucent red Honeysuckle berries, tiny black Madder berries, the bright orange seeds of Stinking Iris and red, green and dark blue Blackberries.