Saturday 18 March 2017

Blue Skies and the Usual Subjects

A wander along the cliff path is always worth while but when the sun comes out and warms a Spring day it is difficult to imagine it getting any better. From the second you reach the cliff top sounds of both waves and seabirds fill the air competing with the smaller scrub dwelling birds who are busy in the gorse on the land above you. Guillemots and Razorbills can be seen on most days rafting on the water while Fulmars and Herring Gulls fly above. Black gangs of Jackdaws bounce along the rocks making sure everyone knows they are there and the occasional Raven croaks a deep authoritative barks as it drifts by. Peregrines and Kestrels make up the usual Raptors but a Sparrowhawk or Buzzard is certainly not uncommon. 
On the ground Roe Deer, Fox and Badger footprints can be seen in the mud but you need to keep your wits about you if you want to see any of these during a normal day. In the grass above a quarry, making full use of the springtime Sun, Adders take time out to bathe and cuddle together. These are beautiful creatures and can be watched here perfectly safely away from the problems that humans bring.







1 comment:

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Used to see loads of fulmars on the east cliffs of Portland but the path along the top has slipped and been closed. So a few weeks ago went to look from the west cliffs but it was freezing cold and everything seemed to have gone into hiding - saw one!

Quiet but never silent.

I missed the Sun this morning, not because I was late but because the early wander was done and dusted by the time the clouds cleared. When...