An incredibly wild and windy morning with gusts of around 49mph, the air dense with the sound of rustling trees and, as my walk approaches the coastal path, the cacophony of giant waves crashing against the cliffs. A break in the cloud illuminates the water, the surf reflecting the morning sun, a sight reminiscent of a Dutch Golden Age seascape.
As the smaller birds struggle to make any progress flying against the wind, a Wood Pigeon sets a record pace in the opposite direction. Two Shags cautiously approach the swelling water looking for their morning feed and a group of Gulls hover gracefully above. The waves send spray up on to the path with ease, even reaching the lighthouse, creating a refreshing wake-up. The wind whipping through the Mile Markers produces an eerie hum as I head back up to the relative calm of the meadows.
Three Stonechats peck around in the shelter of a hedgerow, being careful not to stray too far and get caught in the bluster. A group of Goldfinches watch me intensely from a Sloe bush and I startle a Crow from behind a drystone wall, but their escape plan is foiled by the wind blowing them directly towards me.
At the sheltered edges of the field the Wild Carrot and Knapweed seed heads bob charmingly, while their more exposed counterparts in middle are kept forcibly prostrate by the oppressive gusts and the already windswept Hawthorns lean even further over. The autumnal greens and browns, further emphasised by the grey and cloudy sky, are interrupted by a shock of yellow from a flowering Gorse and the occasional pinky-purple Knapweed still in flower. A group of House Martins dip and dive above me, seemingly playing in the gale.
On my return to the Learning Centre, I am greeted by a Devil’s Coach Horse Beetle, a very sinister looking scorpion-like insect with large pincer-like jaws and an abdomen that it raises up when threatened.
Keep a hold of your hats, it’s a windy one today!