A great mist blanketed the park at dawn. I’d been for a run first thing and my trainers got soaked through from the morning dew as I dodged a variety of Slugs and Snails along the footpaths. At one point I found myself nearly running into the huge lump of a Hereford as it appeared out of the mist, the cow too sleepy to get up and move out of the way.
I made it all the way down into Durlston bay, descending through the fog to reveal an impressive mountainous view of the cliffs – where the wooden slopes disappear into the cloud. The sea was calm, despite all of the Kelp, Wrack, and Dulse churned onto the beach by the ebbing tide.
Fewer Hirundines about this morning in comparison to the display yesterday. Hundreds of birds were performing a mesmerising dance around the pond – darting up, down, left and right, as they soar and dive. Though I still watched a good number of birds arrive in 5’s and 10’s this morning. Some of them taking a drink from the pond in mid-flight; a quick refuel before they depart to cross the channel.
All of the meadows have now been cut, which large grassy swathes left behind to kickstart them again next year with seeds and insects. Instead, I find colour and interest in the hedgerows. Bright red berries of Hawthorn, Bryony, and Rosehips. The Blackberries and Sloes are beginning to ripen, whilst the very last of the Elderberries can be seen clinging to their branches. All of which providing a welcome autumnal treat to the bird singing amongst the scrub; Blue Tit, Robin, and Dunnock.
A downpour in the woodland left large raindrops falling on my head, after pooling on leaves in the canopy above. I was admiring the fruits of the Snowberry shrubs along the woodland chip path, when I noticed a Lesser Stag Beetle sheltering on a log below a single leaf of Ivy. These insects have impressively sized mandibles which are actually for fighting (in competition for a mate) rather than hunting. Still not a creature I’d like to meet if I was the size of an ant though.