‘An iron coast and angry waves
You seem to hear them rise and fall
And road rock thwarted in their bellowing caves
Beneath the windy wall’
This quote from Victorian poet Tennyson is inscribed in a stone tablet at the observation point and seemed very apt this morning.
High winds push from the south causing branches of Holm Oak jostle back and forth along the coast path, whilst the ferny fronds of Tamarisk swing and eddy around in circles. A charm of around fifty Goldfinches could be seen to struggle slightly as they battled northwards into the breeze; they remained undettered, delightfully chiming in song as they passed.
The Guillemots had once again abandoned the cliffs, their ledge left bare except for a single Herring Gull.
My path looped back to the Castle and towards the shelter of the Dell. Here four Squirrels race to find their breakfast, as they scurry amongst the soil and leaf mulch. Chaffinch, Wren, and Great Tit can all be heard amongst the scrub, whilst a group of Crows (collectively known as ‘a murder of crows’) sit high amongst the branches of an Ash Tree.
The woodland has begun to display a lovely show of autumn colours. Leaves of the Plum Trees have turned lemon-yellow, unflung Sycamore helicopters a biscuit-brown, and the Ash Trees have dropped their leaves altogether, revealing the gloomy grey sky above.
Nearby I could hear the occasional moo from one of the Hereford Cows which have recently been moved to Taskers Meadow next to the entrance road after many months on the downs and on far side of the park. It’s always a little unnerving to hear them so close, as your first thought is ‘oh no, how has a cow got over here?!’
Interestingly, my stroll along the clifftop trail revealed an uncanny collective of marine animals; a Cuttlefish, Octopus, and even a Blue Whale on the diagonal path! It must be the start of our ‘Wild Seas’ autumn trail and gallery exhibition – speak to one of the rangers at the castle to learn more!