It never ceases to amaze me how different the days can be up her at Durlston, with the chucking rain of yesterday giving way to a strong westerly wind and shafts of pale sunlight today.
The pull of the coast made me head for Durlston Bay where the seas were crashing into the shore, the hightide causing the waves to reach the boulders of the bottom of the undercliff. Soaring over the shoreline was a large Raven, the long black wings split into feather fingers at the ends.
Around the Headland and the wind was whipping along, a few Shags careering at speed low to the water, but the highlight was the group of Gannets.
Not visible without binoculars at first, a flock of 8 or so of these huge magnificent white birds was gliding along, suddenly they began to stall and circle, enabling me to spot that a variety of ages of birds was present, from the youngest almost all brown, to the juvenile partially brown and white, while adults were brilliant white.
Suddenly a dramatic plunging off to my right, the splash barely discernible amongst the churning water. Then another Gannet dived and another and another. Below them were some smaller birds, probably Black-headed Gulls but couldn’t be sure.
Arriving from the west, crash landing were some Guillemots, the whirr of wings then a splash as they plopped onto the surface.
With this selection of birds around beneath the surface a load of fish must have been in the vicinity.
A single spot of pink along the coast path was a Thrift flower while the bank seemed to be covered in the shells of the small spiral snail Cochlicella acuta.
A group of Goldfinches was tinkling loudly as it went overhead, at least twenty twisting and turning through the air as they moved from Tamarisk to Blackthorn and back to the soft fronds of the Tamarisk.