A windy and wet start to the day, with the sky barely brightening during my walk to work and the wind steadily rising as I headed up the hill from town.
In the gloom of the woodland, raindrops patter onto the glossy leaves of Holm Oak, or splatter onto the paths. The Aviary Glade is covered in worm casts, with a Blackbird enjoying breakfast as it heaves earthworms out of the soggy turf.
Nearby a Dunnock scuffles through the Hazels around the edge of the Glade, with a Treecreeper scuttling up the smooth trunk of a Sycamore nearby.
A Grey Squirrel makes a death-defying leap across the path above my head, before ‘bouncing’ it’s way up into the gently swaying canopy.
In the shelter of Sunnydale, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tit and Wren also seen, though otherwise most birds are very sensibly ‘keeping their heads down’ this morning!
Along the play trail, plenty of fungi to be found on trees and rotting logs, from shiny black King Alfred’s Cakes, purple-brown Jelly Ear on Elder, puffy grey Dead Man’s Fingers and a splash of colour from Yellow Brain Fungus, to name just a few.
The bright orange berries of Stinking Iris also look particularly eye-catching among the soft browns of the woodland in winter.
A squadron of Gannets wheel just off Durlston Bay, cutting through the wind in smooth arcs – dazzling splashes of brilliant white against a steel grey sea. A few Guillemots whiz past, low to the water (at least one still in it’s ‘winter’ plumage), with a passing Razorbill seen from the Observation Point, while a pair of courting Shags bob side by side in the calmer water within the bay.
Along the Diagonal Path, yellow-flowered Gorse brightens a dull morning.