Spring at Durlston always feels like the last few yards before reaching the top of the rollercoaster and starting the plunge down into summer! Every day seems to bring something new, as the pace of spring accelerates.
Out in the meadows, the air is filled with the cascading song of Skylarks, pouring down from a pale blue sky. The ‘bouncing ping-pong ball’ song of Chaffinches, rings out from the hedgerows, along with the squeaky, rhythmic song of Great Tits, the jangling of Goldfinches, fluid, repeated song of Song Thrushes and excited chatter of Blue Tits, Willow Warblers, and Chiffchaffs. Lots of Linnets also in song around the downland scrub, with a Swallow hurtling past, high above Round Down and a Marsh Tit in the garden of a bungalow.
A tide of yellow Cowslips is rolling across the meadows, with the blue and white flowers of Field Speedwell appearing among the bright green grass of the verges, along with the lovely yellow flowers of Lesser Celandine.
Flowering Early Spider Orchids and Early Purple Orchids are becoming more numerous by the day.
In the woods, the flowers of Ramsons are starting to bloom, amid a carpet of glossy green leaves, with Daffodils, Bluebells, Primroses and Herb Robert filling the glades and the drumming of a Great Spotted Woodpecker echoing among the trees. Grey Squirrels race and chitter among the branches overhead, where Bay is covered with fluffy green flowers, and Sallow is covered in catkins.
Along the cliffs, Guillemots and Razorbills bob on the water below the cliffs, with Fulmars, Shags, Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls all on the wing. The plaintive cry of an Oystercatcher rises up from the sea, with a few Rock Pipits skittering along the clifftop.
Just outside the Learning Centre, a Hen Pheasant bursts of out of the scrub, struggling to get aloft, with a shiny black Bloody-nose Beetle plodding across the short grass nearby.