Calm on the park this morning following a very impressive storm last night. I think many people across the whole of East Dorset must have been awoken by the loud thunder and bright flashes of lightning around midnight.
Our weather station recorded 11.2mm of rain, which isn’t masses but will certainly be appreciated by our new Black Pine saplings and the plantings in the Dell. The paths through the woodland have held up well, with just a fresh scattering of Sycamore flowers and Holm Oak leaves.
Only a trickle of water is left running through the stream at Sunnydale. It meanders through the moss-clad banks which are now sprouting with Cow Parsley, Comfrey, Hart’s Tongue Fern. Rhododendron branches across the stream; purple flowers beginning to bloom and fresh leaves sprouting from its tips.
Along the top of the damp dry stone walls, the coping stones are covered in an abundance of damp-loving critters; Woodlice, Garden Snails, Lapidary Snails, Yellow Slugs, Lauria cylindracea and White-lipped Snails of all shapes and sizes. There were a couple other types of more conical-shapes snails but what species they are exactly, I do not know!
Along some sections, the sunlight breaks through from the east; alighting the walls and sending the detritivores into the crevices. Here, clusters of Wayfaring flowers shine a bright white colour, and butterflies; Speckled Wood and Red Admiral, dance in it’s warmth.
As I’m walking along the coast path, I find myself following a pair of Robins who are playing with one another ahead of me. One of the birds bobs it’s tail-feathers right up like a wagtail and giving it the appearance of a wren.
No sign of the Tawny Owlet for the past couple days, I assume the young bird may have finally fledged. Last night Paul reported sighting a Red-legged Partridge on his way home. Not a rare sighting, but not a common one either.