A cold frosty start to the day with temperatures plummeting to -2.7c overnight. A herd of 9 Reindeer, one with a distinctly red nose, were spotted grazing the frozen dusty white grass outside of the Castle.
I walk down to the Great Globe, stopping to ponder a nice hot winter getaway to the Maldives. As I reach the bottom of the Globe steps, I find myself thinking how quiet it seems to be this morning for wildlife, just as a large bird of prey swoops around the corner. She swings around to the left just meters above me, flutters her wings a few times, before soaring upwards on the air currents towards Durlston bay.
Given the location I immediately assumed it to be a female Peregrine, but the flight and size of bird leant me towards a female Sparrowhawk instead.
The sea is extra blue this morning, maybe resulting from the Sun shining through a dull but thin layer of cloud. It’s also calm with the wind blowing from the North; so the water is still along these south-east facing cliffs. No white-water splashes against the rocks. Here, a lone Guillemot plops itself into the water, and the sound of its splash resonates up over the cliffs.
Towards the Lighthouse I can see small flocks of 20-30 Woodpigeons flying about in unison. The Jackdaws clatter about the Tamarisk, and a Great Black-backed Gull patrols along the coast.
The next bird I see is a Peregrine, the same motionless flight overhead and parallel to the cliffs, but this time, a much smaller bird to confirm my earlier sighting.
My god its cold. I can feel it in on my ears and in my fingertips, right behind the nails. I bitterly regret not wearing gloves. I follow a couple of Song Thrush towards Tilly Whim. Their speckled white undersides look as if they’ve been sat in snow.