The air above us, so it seems, contains a daily surprise
I hope this never ends
And I say to you my friends
May you live beneath interesting skies
The sky was hung with a heavy layer of stratocumulus cloud, tinged with a red orange glow from the rising sun. Magpies were rattling in the trees, and it seemed that every single object that could be perched on supported a Robin. They do like to pose.
Two Wrens were chirping noisily outside the Learning Centre, and as I made my way towards the Overflow Car Park a pair of Blue Tits flittered in and out of a patch of scrub. Several impressive Razor Strop fungi were clinging to the remains of a Birch tree, their natural habitat. A Grey Squirrel spiralled dextrously up a tree trunk in the woodlands, and down on the Timeline a Dunnock was hopping about gaily.
Heading down the Clifftop Trail, I gazed for a moment at a leafless Sycamore tree, its naked brown spurs jutting up into the air. On the sides of the cliffs, a group of around four and twenty Jackdaws fluttered about on their morning business, with a few creamy Rock Doves scattered about as well.
Over the water, Several Herring Gulls and Greater Black Backed Gulls were calling noisily to each other. A few Guillemots were on the water, with a couple more flying above the raft. A Shag flew past on its customary eastward journey, and as I approached the Lighthouse a Peregrine Falcon whipped by me in a flash. I turned to follow its movements as it made a swift skirting of the cliff face and flew out of sight.
Two Ravens were perched on one of the Mile Markers, and further along below the Gulley I heard the peels of a Green Woodpecker further up the hill. Strolling past the Hereford cattle, I watched a Carrion Crow bob underneath the fence in a motion I found oddly satisfying to observe.
On my arrival back at the Learning Centre, Blackbirds were to be seen in abundance. On closer inspection, one of them turned out to be a Redwing, which had repeatedly perched in a series of hard to see locations. Despite this, patience prevailed and I ended up getting a very satisfying view of the creature.