The echoing cry of a Herring Gull is anthem of the seaside
A place where none alight
Will never feel quite right
The sea is where I long to be beside
A beautiful sunny morning today with a fresh breeze and a delightful array of low fluffy cumulous clouds lining the horizon. A quick scan of the Car Park revealed it to be rich in avian activity, with Robins, Blackbirds, Blue Tits, Chaffinches and a trio of Goldfinches all making their customary noises to greet the day. I also spotted a House Sparrow engaged in a vicious battle with its own reflection in the wing mirror of one of our vehicles.
My destination this morning was Brian Johnson Meadow, so I plotted a course through the Large Copse, catching the distinctive yaffle of a Green Woodpecker as I entered. The woods were relatively placid aside from this, though there was an impressive crop of Jelly Ear fungi on a fallen log. Emerging into South Field I spied a Cock Pheasant strutting alongside the hedgerow. If I was dressed as fancily as he was, I’d be strutting too.
Crossing Saxon field with the distant tones of a Song Thrush in the background, the waning gibbous moon loomed overhead and kept me company. Before long I was at Brian Johnson Meadow, enjoying exactly what I’d hoped to see. The Skylarks were displaying over Eight Acres and I had a front row seat. I took some time to listen and watch, sometimes through binoculars and sometimes with the naked eye. Nature is beautiful in so many ways, but I find the Skylark’s display the most moving.
I rounded off my excursion by returning over the Downlands, where small clusters of Jackdaws coasted over the Tor Grass, and the raucous yet somehow comforting calls of Herring Gulls rolled in from over the waves. Along the Clifftops I looked down for an instant when my shoelace became untied, just at that moment I caught a glimmer of grey from the corner of my eye. A Peregrine Falcon had launched itself off the cliff just a few meters from where I was standing. I followed it as it flew off westwards, its movement full of deadly purpose.
I also ran into our very own Hamish Murray, who’d managed to spot a Firecrest at the Castle, as well as a Marsh Tit and a Sandwich Tern at the Observation point. Well done that man.