On clifftops and downlands I feel quite at home
Though I wander in solus, I’m never alone
I’m escorted by birds and sheltered by trees
And who could want better companions than these?
The wind was rising as I entered the park this morning and I received a good buffeting in the Car Park as I headed to the shelter of the Woodlands. Two Robins were holding a conversation across the top of Long Meadow, and a Carrion Crow made a high speed dive towards the Castle with the wind at its back.
Into the woodlands I passed a nice patch of Yellow Brain Fungus, with several fruit bodies growing out of a rotting log. The Oyster Fungus was still on display further down, but was starting to look a little past it’s sell by date. In other fungi news, yesterday Kevin (our resident fungi enthusiast) and I tracked down another Mystery Fungus which was later identified as a Turf Mottlegill.
I turned my eyes upwards upon nearing the base of the woodlands, hoping to spot some more mobile wildlife. From one of the viewpoints I observed a pair of Blue Tits make a quick diving flight over the Cliffside, and in the branches above I could hear the musical stylings of a few Blackbirds. As I rounded the Aviary Glade the yaffle of a Green Woodpecker rang out clear through the morning air. The Hazels around here were draped in Catkins, dangling clusters of tiny flowers, all male to avoid self-pollination.
Out of the woodlands and beside the castle this year’s Daffodils were emerging, but I’m not going to talk about them because it’s Burns Night tomorrow, not Wordsworth night. Along the Clifftop Trail the wind was now blowing fiercely, with gusts of 48mph recorded at the Learning Centre. I observed a pair of Shags flying over the water, one barely moving as it struggled eastwards into the wind, the other westbound, hurtling across the water like a long necked black missile. A Herring Gull navigated the weather skilfully, making steady progress into the eye of the wind and keeping my company as I struggled onward.
Past the Tilly Whim caves I spotted a small bird perched on the cliff edge, my binoculars revealing it to be a Black Redstart, which has been seen there several times now. When I made it to the Lighthouse road the wind was at my back, and with my arms spread wide I practically sailed back to the Learning Centre, just ahead of the incoming showers.