A damp morning for a patrol, with the waves crashing against the cliffs producing a massive spray across the clifftops, the blowhole huffing and puffing, covering me and my binoculars in a fine salty dampness.
Fulmars quartering the rocks, the occasional flap of their stiff thin wings allowing them to travel and glide magnificently. Further out to sea 2 brilliant white Gannets soared just above the grey rolling water.
On the water a group of black and white birds comprising of 19 Razorbills and 3 Guillemots, all the other Guillemots were standing on the breeding ledges which was packed.
Soaring across the sky, heading eastwards was a Cormorant, a white patch noticeable under the wing showing its breeding plumage.
On the downland the sound of Chaffinches proclaiming their territories, the flashes of white on the wings just noticeable through the many long fronds of Old Man’s Beard.
Perched on the Hawthorn scrub was a group of Goldfinches, their colour scheme wonderful to see, yellows, gold, red and white showing against the dark brown and grey background.
A small bright orange patch of the ‘Goldeneye Lichen’ Teloschistes chrysophthalmus still showing on the Blackthorn, this is the only patch we have yet found on the National Nature Reserve. Masses of grey, orange, yellow and pale green lichens also spotted across the site.
The sudden call of Green Woodpecker took my attention sideways to see the yellow rump disappearing off, as I watched it landed on the grass allowing me to admire it further.
Just by the centre a couple of Rabbits bounding across the short turf with another sat on the top of a Yellow Meadow Ant Hill, while nearby Grey Squirrels were scampering up the Holm Oaks.