As I sat and ate breakfast this morning, I had a lovely view of Swifts, Starlings and House Sparrows all flying between houses and around gardens. I could also see the thick mist of rain coming in from the south west and as I left the house decked out in full waterproofs, I realised it wasn’t half as bad as it looked.
Approaching the woodland, I could hear the roar of the sea coming through the trees and the gentle trickle of water running down the stream. The woodland is a fantastic multi shade of greens, today is a great day to go exploring in the woods and identify leaves, especially along our woodchip path; Horse Chestnut, Elm, Beach, Sycamore, Ash, Pine, Hazel, Privet and many more trees in leaf can be found, all with a variety of shapes, sizes, patterns, colours and textures.
While I was slowly meandering through the woods, observing and listening, I realised I wasn’t actually concentrating but just enjoying the serenity and calm. I stopped to observe closer, looking up through a gap in the Holm Oaks four Swallows flew over, two Wood Pigeons quietly landed on an Apple Tree and a Robin sat on a dry-stone wall, while the other birds I could hear were unsurprisingly tucked inside the thick hedgerow.
Approaching the sea cliffs, the sun broke through the thick cloud beaming down on the water for a few seconds then disappearing again. At the observation point a Raven sat on a wall, a Great Black-backed Gull and a Fulmar sat on their nests, while out to sea a raft of about 30 Guillemots were seen to the east. Although not too windy the sea was creating an incredible swell around the base of the cliffs and the waves were crashing spectacularly against Tilly Whim caves. Sheltering on the eastern side of the cliffs were six Shags, Jackdaws, Pigeons and Herring Gulls. Undeterred by the weather a couple of Rock Pipits flitted around the Tor Grass and a Whitethroat sang from a Tamarisk tree. Also covering the grass tops Thrift, Sea-Champion, Bulbous Buttercup, Horse-shoe Vetch and Birds-foot Trefoil are all in flower adding lovely colours to the greens and greys.
Further out to sea two Gannets flew west. Along the diagonal path a Stonechat clutched a bright green Caterpillar, a Chiffchaff moved around the Gorse and a pair of Linnets sat singing from another Gorse bush.