The fog of dawn wraps all in its embrace
Vision obscured I seek the hidden sun
And then I feel it’s warmth upon my face
Now it is here the cold mist’s day is done.
A chilly mist wrapped the park this morning, with the birds eerily quiet at first. Visibility was down to a few hundred meters, but that was enough to spot a few Robins and Blue Tits flitting about outside the Learning Centre. A Dunnock made itself comfortable in the hedge beside the Wildlife area, chirping softly as I headed towards the Small Copse.
A few Spear Thistle were spreading their spiky fronds beside the path, ignored by our grazing Herefords. When I arrived at the copse I spotted a few nice King Alfred’s Cakes clinging to Holm oak branches, but nothing more. Continuing on above the Gulley, a group of three Goldfinches passed me by, banking hard and wheeling close past my face, their Golden Wing markings flashing prominent for a moment. This is the kind of birdwatching I can handle.
The sun was visible at first as a pale disk, struggling valiantly to shine through a thick shroud of water vapour. As I passed above the lighthouse, it won through, piercing the veil of mist and bathing the landscape in a warm golden light. The lighthouse itself was illuminated in a particularly beautiful fashion. I didn’t have a camera on me, but it was the kind of thing I think I will remember.
Heading down the lighthouse slope, there seemed to be some kind of corvid party going on in the branches of a Sycamore. A dozen or so Jackdaws, a couple of Carrion Crows and a Magpie were all sitting together. True to form there were no Rooks, which typically are loners, though several were sighted together outside the Castle yesterday afternoon.
I finished with a little trip along the Clifftops. A Brown Lipped Snail Clung to the fleshy leaves of a Samphire, and a pair of Greater Black Backed Gulls swooped low over the waves. I walked steadily up to the view point, and watched a trio of Rock Doves dive from the cliff, loop round and flew close by me and up towards the Castle. My second close encounter of the day.