A very grey morning for a patrol, today including a walk around the woodland where there turned out to be less wildlife activity than I had hoped.
However the highlight was definitely watching 2 Sparrowhawks circling just off one of the viewpoints, the stripy tail and rounded wing shape easy to see, they were also bringing attention to themselves by their vocal calling.
A few minutes later a Peregrine Falcon flew by the cliffs, this bird was slate grey, pointed wings and much stockier than the Sparrowhawk, the differences so obvious when they are seen close together!
The woodland trees being covered in leaves made searching for the small birds which were calling almost impossible, although I did eventually spot A Goldcrest, a Willow Warbler and a group of Great Tits way up in the canopy of Horse Chestnut, Sycamore and Macrocarpa.
From amongst the dark leaves of a Holm Oak strange cackling noises were coming, these were from a couple of perched Magpies.
On the ground was a Greater Bloody-nosed Beetle, this species is to me the perfect beetle, easy to spot, some easy characteristics to identify and it oozes liquid, they also have amazing wrinkled larvae!
On a Buddleia was one of our native 7-Spot Ladybirds, while nearby on the leaves of the Burdock was a Harlequin Ladybird (this one orange and black).
As I repaired a small piece of dry-stone wall, I uncovered a ground beetle Nebria brevicollis which quickly ran back into the darkness of a crack in the wall.
This morning the sea was dark grey with many churning white crests of waves and skimming over the top of them was a superb glorious Gannet, only the wing tips not pristine white from my view, although a closer view would have revealed the delicate yellow head.
A few flowers still to enjoy including Old Man’s Beard, Enchanter’s Nightshade, Rock Samphire, Fleabane and Great Willowherb.