Bright warm sunshine for my early stroll around Durlston Country Park National Nature Reserve, with the sky patched with small white clouds and the sea sparkling it was quite gorgeous.
A few Shags flapped leisurely just above the water, while some Sandwich Terns were busy diving from height to plunge into the sea for fish breakfast.
A spectacular Teasel stand, all of these spiny stems at 6 foot tall and topped with the brush like head – but not yet open.
Along the banks the Hedge Bedstraw providing a scattering of small delicate flowers, while Marjoram. Wild Thyme, Betony and Self-heal are coloured across the pinks and purples
A sound from amongst the Tor Grass above me and a female Roe Deer bounded easily across the tufts, she was followed by a young fawn, whose chestnut coat was covered in spots which were a dirty white colour as they blend towards the more uniform colouration.
A Greater Bloody-nose Beetle was trundling over the mud, looking a little like a clockwork toy in its movement. My attention was caught by the sound of a Yellowhammer, who after a bit of searching on the scrub, the bright yellow head was spotted.
The Marbled White butterflies are fluttering in the warmth, a constant white-black-white-black blue, while the dull brown flutter of a Lulworth Skipper easily told apart from the bright Small Skipper. A velvet brown Ringlet was perched on a patch pf Bracken, allowing me for one a great view of the rings on the underwing.
On the cliffs a Greater Black-backed Gull returned to its ledge where its young grey chick was squawking, while nearby the plaintive cry of a young Herring Gull could be heard as its parent ignored it, standing at the farthest end of the nesting site!
60 or more Guillemots on the water along with 4 Razorbill, come into the Castle visitor centre to see them in close up – a few chicks still to spot, but it won’t be not long until they leave for the summer.