A proper autumn morning, with the ground squelching pleasingly underfoot in the meadows and a jumbled sky of brilliant gold, ripples of dark grey cloud and patches of brilliant blue.
Overhead, Swallows and House Martins swirl and dance as they feed and gather in preparation for the journey to Africa ahead – over the coming weeks and months waves of hirundines will arrive and gather before setting of en masse, replaced by new birds from further north again.
Many colourful ‘charms’ of crimson and gold Goldfinches also on the wing this morning, picking over the seed-heads of Woolly Thistle, Teasel and Bristly Ox-tongue, before moving on to the next patch. Their tinkling calls fill the air – sometimes described as sounding like sleigh bells!
As the colours of the grassland fade to soft bronze, the hedges and scrub are full of colour, with Hawthorn trees, covered with red Haws looking almost like toffee apples! Ropes of shiny Bryony berries range from bright red, to orange to green, alongside dusty black Sloes on Blackthorn and the gleaming silver seeds of Old Man’s Beard.
Families of Long-tailed Tits fuss and bluster along the hedgerows, squeaking noisily to each as they forage. Several glimpses of Goldcrests – a tiny bird with a bright gold ‘Mohican’, with a Wheatear passing overhead on the downs.
Also seen this morning, several Pied Wagtails, Blackcaps, Blue and Great Tits, Dunnock, Blackbird, Green Woodpecker, Meadow Pipits and more unusually, a squadron of Starlings.
Along the cliffs, a grey sea taps gently at the coast, with Brent Geese and Scoter passing by in the distance and Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and an Oystercatcher seen closer to the cliffs. A Peregrine Falcon keeps watch from the rocks below the Observation Point, with a Kestrel hovering above Long Meadow as I arrived at work.
A few Red Admirals on the wing this morning, despite the lack of sunshine, with a Roe Deer staring at me from across Skipworth Meadow.
The wet weather has brought forth a selection of fungi, including Horse and Field Mushroom, and in the woods, a fine specimen of the glossy bracket fungus Ganoderma resinaceum.