A beautiful autumn morning after a wild night last night, with winds gusting up to 51 miles per hour and 5mm of rain.
A very different picture this morning, with fluffy white clouds sailing across acres of bright blue sky and some brilliant sunshine gleaming on the sea, where ‘white horses’ chase across the water.
A walk through the woods this morning to check for storm damage, where the paths are covered with a colourful mosaic of leaves. Overhead the wind hisses and roars through the canopy, sending the leaves of Sycamore, Ash, Lime and Holm Oak tumbling down.
Around the woodland floor, the seedpods of Stinking Iris are staring to burst open to reveal bright orange ‘stars’ of seeds, with a brilliant blue wing feather of Jay catching my eye from yards away, in a shaft of sunshine.
The hedge along Long Meadow is covered with fruit, with berries of Bramble, White Dogwood, Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Madder, Honeysuckle, Bryony and Dog Rose in a dazzling variety of shades. Here and there, Old Mans’s Beard leaves are starting to turn adding splashes of rusty red.
In the relative shelter of Caravan Terrace, a Chiffchaff darts among the scrub, with the flash of the ruddy tail of a Redstart dashing across in front of me. Long-tailed Tits forage through the dense foliage along the back wall, as a few Linnets pass overhead
A small flock of Goldfinches are feeding on Burdock next to the sheltered path alongside the Castle, with Blue, Great and Coal Tit also seen this morning.
At sea, a few Gannets pass by – their brilliant white feathers making them ‘jump out’ even at a distance, with a rather windswept looking Peregrine clinging to the cliffs below the Observation Point.
Out in the meadows, a few flowers remain, including Autumn Ladies Tresses, Rough Hawkbit, Field and Devil’s Bit Scabious, Knapweed, Ladies Bedstraw, Squinancywort and Carline Thistle.
As I type, a Common Carder Bee feeds on the Buddleia just outside.