Clear skies welcomed my arrival at Durlston this morning. Cloud on the horizon obscures the Sun and shades the park, but the sunlight reflects high in the sky, alighting the waning gibbous moon and single aeroplane contrail.
A brisk wind rattles through from the West, hopefully drying the ground following 10.8mm of rainfall yesterday. Puddles have formed across the park, particularly atop the impermeable clay. A very large puddle has pooled beneath the button swing on the play trail – wellies and waterproofs advised! The exposed rockface at Caravan Terrace pours with water as the runoff flows towards Durlston Bay.
Some lovely bird can be heard from below the bridge, with Robins, Great Tits, and Chaffinches, chiming into the dawn chorus. The birds hop around the Sycamore and undergrowth: now completely barren except for the Ivy, Bramble, and fluffy Old Man’s Beard. Groups of Woodpigeon race past above, whilst Blackbirds and Squirrels scavenge amongst the damp leaf litter.
A few Gannets fly above the pot buoys off Durlston head. They soar up, dive down, flap their broad wings, loop around, and repeat. One bird slows as it tucks its wings in tight to its body, before a rapid descent and dive into the water. It’s too far out to see if it caught anything.
I walk further around the headland to notice many more Gannets flying above the sunlit crests. A few Greater Black-backed Gulls and possibly a type of Skua are amongst them; all dwarfed in size by the lofty Gannets.
Further along the sea cliffs I see Herring Gulls, countless Jackdaws, Guillemots, and a female Peregrine just meters away from me; sat atop its usual perch below the guillemot seat.