There’s something very special about the feeling of being in a wood early in the morning in the spring – a sort of hush and beauty that feels a little like stepping into a cathedral. High overhead, the sun shines through a canopy of Lime, Sycamore, London Plane and Black Pine, dappling the woodland floor, as high branches curve into a vault, pierced with blue sky.
The woodland floor is covered with a wonderful display of waist-high Cow Parsley, dense, miniature forests of garlic-scented Ramsons, Three-cornered Leek and Garlic Mustard, all covered in white flowers. Here and there, Bluebells are still in bloom, along with delicate pink Herb Robert and the thick, square stems of Figwort.
Pausing to ‘Rest and Admire’ the Sandwich Terns, plunging, knife-like into Durlston Bay, the sound of a Raven echoes from the top of a Monterey Cypress. The explosive cackle of a Green Woodpecker rings out as I cross Long Meadow, as Swallows hurtle past high above me.
The downland is looking spectacular at the moment, with pools of blue Chalk Milkwort, purple Common Spotted and Green-winged Orchids (with Early Spider Orchids still hanging on). Yellow Birdsfoot Trefoil and Horseshoe Vetch strip the slopes with gold, with tiny Early English Gentian opening it’s pink flowers to the sun.
Bloody-nose Beetles plod mechanically across the short turf, with the minute, strange Adderstongue Fern (like a tiny version of Lords and Ladies) very plentiful in some places.
The meadows roll like the sea in the morning breeze, with bobbing Bulbous Buttercups, Pale Flax, Cowslips and pink spikes of Sainfoin. Below them, Yellow Rattle and Common Vetch are starting to bloom.
Skylarks ‘weave a gauze of sound’ around me, with the song and calls of Blackcaps, Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs, Robins, Wrens and Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits ringing out from the hedgerows.
No time for a trip round the cliffs, so looking forward to our first seabird boat trip of the year this evening!