Down at Tilly Whim were three Black Redstarts – fantastic to see. The first one spotted was a glorious male, his black face markings leading into the charcoal grey of his body. The white flashes on the top of his wings noted as he took flight to then show his fiery red tail, which was continued to flick as it perched on the George Burt stone ‘Protect and Not Destroy the Turf’.
On the other side of the gully were two more Black Redstarts, these both brown plumaged and again flitting around the rocks of the caves.
A quick peer over the wall and the Guillemots were again using the ledges, just a few today with a couple of others whirring past at sea. A Herring Gull was gliding above the grey waves, which were then crashing against the cliffs providing a churning mass of white and a fine spray.
A splash of pale lemon yellow in the middle of the field are the flowers of Common Toadflax, while the darker more sun coloured yellow is Rough Hawkbit.
Emerging from the hedgerow which is now almost bereft of leaves but still covered in Blackthorn Sloes, Rose Hips and Hawthorn berries were a small flock of Redwings.
As they took flight the red flashes of their underwings patches caught the eye and the flock called a few times which their characteristic ‘seeep’.
As I walked around the meadows the ‘ticking’ call of Robins came from the scrub, and a Wren erupted from the Cleavers with a loud call. Once landed the feathering showed its lovely almost square patterns of variations of brown shades.
On the ground a few huge piles of Badger poo in their latrines, while the scats of Roe Deer and of Fox showed the unseen activity of these mammals.