A windy start to the day, with clouds racing and tumbling across a sky of gold, pink and blue.
In the woodland, water bubbles along the stream at Sunnydale, where a patch of Winter Heliotrope, just above the ‘Shed’ fills the air with a rich scent of Marzipan.
Around the woods, fungi are in fruit, from the tiny, weird Dead Man’s Fingers and Candlesnuff Fungus, on rotting logs, purple Ear Fungus on Elder, with the much larger Many-zoned Polypore and Artist’s Bracket growing on the large trunks of Sycamore. A few logs are speckled with bright orange Coral Spot Fungus, with the glossy leaves of Hart’s Tongue Fern gleaming in the morning sunshine.
The bright orange seeds of Stinking Iris add splashes of colour, along with last few Elm leaves, now a sulphurous shade of intense yellow.
Goldcrests skitter among the branches near Caravan Terrace, occasionally emerging to reveal a quick flash of the yellow ‘Mohican’ which gives them their name, with Coal Tits, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Robins and Wrens also busy feeding up in the same patch of sun-warmed scrub.
Snatches of song from Dunnock and Song Thrush, hidden among the canopy, but cutting through the gusty wind.
Above the Terrace, a Bullfinch perches on top of a tangled mass of Blackthorn, the bright red of his breast echoing the ruddy sky.
Guillemots are once again visiting the ledges, whirring in and out in a blur of wings, with Shag and Great Black-backed Gull flapping more ponderously by.
Further out, 2 Gannets and 5 Scoter – (sea ducks), pass by.
Returning to the Centre, a few Bramblings and Linnets pass overhead – a sign that migration is still underway, even this late in the year.