A beautiful winter morning, with a still, immaculate blue dome of sky overhead, while below, frost sparkles in the sunshine and crunches pleasingly underfoot.
A glittering sea laps gently at the cliffs, where Guillemots are crammed onto the ledges, with more trailing on the water below, or flickering in and out from the cliffs, their tiny wings a blur of motion.
A Rock Pipit flutters around the cliffside, while at Tilly Whim, what at first appears to be a fragment of dark grey rock resolves itself into a Black Redstart, as he turns to reveal a glimpse of his fiery red tail.
Near the Observation Point a Peregrine Falcon corkscrews downwards and out of sight, hunting prey below, sending a flurry of concerned chatter through a gang of nearby Jackdaws.
A Tawny Owl calls from the woodland above the Observation Point, while near Caravan Terrace a flock of Goldcrests are feeding among the canopy, the colours of the yellow ‘Mohican’ which gives them their name looking especially fine in the sunshine.
Also on the wing, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Dunnock, with a family of Long-tailed Tits putting on a wonderful display of acrobatics along a hedgerow in the Car Parks.
A Green Woodpecker ‘chuckles’ as it bobs across Long Meadow, while overhead jangling flocks of Goldfinches swirl.
A Kestrel skims smoothly past the Learning Centre, with a Buzzard spiralling slowly up above the meadows and a pair of Ravens croaking to each other in the Lighthouse Field.
In the woodland, Bay is covered in glossy black berries, while on the woodland floor Stinking Iris adds splashes of colour with its bright orange seeds.
A quick check on our Herefords to round off the morning patrol, who are all happily grazing away in the Lighthouse Field – essential to maintain the incredible variety of wildflowers, which make this relatively tiny piece of grassland one of the richest in the UK.