A very grey morning greeted me, but the visibility easily good enough to view the Isle of Wight with clarity.
As I gazed across the grey water a brilliant white shape drifted into view, this Gannet flapped with stiff wings then glided before making the effort again as it circled, its black wings tips a marked contrast with the rest of the white body, while on the water another of these huge white seabirds bobbed.
Around the headland I was welcomed by the sound of growling and gargling as the Guillemots again made themselves known, well over a hundred on the ledge with another 32 on the water, all but one of these in ‘summer breeding plumage and only 2 in non-breeding plumage.
A quick cackle and two Fulmars as they came together, one in flight the other sat in a nook on the cliffs.
As I watched a flit in the corner of my eye was a Peregrine Falcon arriving on the rock, the bright yellow feet griping the rough surface. As this bird of prey stood facing the cliff but both eyes constantly watching all that was going on around.
The old large Tamarisk bushes were being used by a small flock of tits, with both Great and Blue Tits moving through the soft fronds, both species chitting and chatting as they hopped and flew.
The whistley call of Bullfinches came from the 3 birds flying above my head, but I had to wait a while before they flew to a position where any visual identification clues could be noted in the gloom and greyness. The white rumps the first clue along with the lack of obvious beak, finally the pinkish front allowed for no mistake!
Five Grey Squirrels scampering up and down the Holm Oak trunk and branches, these and the eruption of Wood Pigeons and squawking Jays made for a noisy moment in the woodland.