Yesterday evening a Tawny Owl was heard calling near the castle. Simultaneously, what was most likely a Pipistrelle Bat was in flight, should the two have met and then one might have become meat for the other!
Outside the office some seven suspected Redwings passed overhead and possibly it had been a Sparrowhawk that raced past.
On the diagonal path I disturbed a bird of prey which had been plucking its prey on the ground. My arrival sent the predator off with its meal still in its talons! The bird of prey I suspected it to have been a Sparrowhawk. The prey’s feathers upon the ground to me appeared to be of two shades of green but I was to be told they were brown and beige!
From the cliff tops a good fifty Guillemots were observed huddled in the cave ledge. Closer inspection revealed that the birds were active in flight between cliff and sea. A raft of some fifteen of the seabirds was linear when the waves allowed. The juveniles amongst them displayed white faces and throats. Both Shags and Cormorants put in appearances. The Shags flew low over the water heading both east and west. The high-flying Cormorant flew in arcs out from the cliff tops close to coast path level. Herring Gulls also circled with wings bent as required time.
An old “rail gate” was seen to be leaning in the Goat Plot. I follow a Deer track into the grassy glade beyond and luckily there were no signs of cattle escape. That the lack of charge in the electric fence meant work for others this morning. The Hereford cattle grazing had revealed the Ant Hills and low-lying Gorse. I thought it strange that the grassy glade beyond had not had the attention of Rabbits. One Rabbit was viewed upon the wares. I imagine the cattle as the restorative graziers and the Rabbits as the maintainers! Of course, the mammal soon dove back into the tangled cover of Blackthorn, Bramble and Honeysuckle stems. Occasionally resting upon the scrub was a Magpies whilst Blackbird alarm calls were heard from the depth within.