Shivering branches
Adorn plump fluffed up feathers
Autumn cools to close
A beautiful start to the day with clear blue skies. Golden sun rays alight the woodland from across Durlston Bay. It warms the walls and glows upon the tree trunks. The earth is illuminated between the long dark shadows and the cheery redbreast of a Robin scampers between the leaves.
This morning I received yet another stone delivery in the woodland. Huge blocks of limestone first laid down as sediments in shallow tropical lagoons here in Purbeck, 130 million years ago. All these years later, the stone is quarried from just outside Swanage and bought to rebuild the historic dry stone walls across the park.
The striking black head of a male Stonechat sits atop the fern-like fronds of a Tamarisk. Its orangey-red breast and mottled brown back are cut by distinct white lines. I watch him jovially hopping from between the branches which swing in the chilly breeze.
On the calm sea, twenty-two Guillemots bathe themselves in a long narrow raft below the watchful eyes of a Peregrine Falcon. Higher up on the seacliffs the Jackdaws clatter and chatter, whilst a Raven croaks from above.
I follow the coast path towards Anvil Point, where the bright white lighthouse stands proud on top of the cliffs. I catch sight of a single Black Redstart before it swoops down into the Gully. A charm of Goldfinch can heard overhead, twittering as they pass by.
From the Hide, I could see good numbers of Great Tit and Blue Tit enjoying the bird feeders. Each of them jittering amongst the hedgerow, before braving a flight to the food. In the distance a male and female Bullfinch hops between the barren branches of Buddleia.