A wild night last night, with 20mm of rain and winds gusting up to 54mph and the early rounds were no different, pelting me with rain and helpfully pushing me up the hill as I walked up from the Observation Point!
Nonetheless, the show must go on, and our parkrunners were already starting to gather near the Castle.
Once again, spectacular displays of Gannets, feeding off Durlston Head. The largest resident seabird in the UK, 25 birds wheel in dizzying spirals, breaking off to fold their wings and plunge knife-like into the ‘net’ of colliding waves. A Cormorant battles the wind as it passes the Observation Point, while further along Guillemots huddle on the ledges – a few braving the elements to feed on flickering wings.
At Tilly Whim, Sea Aster is still in bloom – at it’s peak in late summer, the mainly mild winter has allowed it to keep going.
Also in bloom, marzipan scented Winter Heliotrope around the Large Copse – it’s pink flowers always looking like it needs a good rinse, it is one of the first flowers to start to bloom each year.
Winter-flowering Cherry is looking magnificent in the Dell, covered with a froth of pink flowers. Hazel catkins are also in bloom, dancing wildly in the wind in the woodland, where a rather bedraggled Jay clings to the swaying branch of a Holm Oak.
At Sunnydale, the green spikes of Daffodils are starting to push up out of the woodland floor, while Coral Spot Fungus speckles the log-edging of the paths, along with the weird, puffy Dead Men’s Fingers and purple Jelly Ear Fungus.
Dunnock and Blackbird scuffle along the sheltered base of the Long Meadow hedge as I return to the Centre, but otherwise, not the best morning for birding!
If you want to wait for the rain to clear, why not check out our new exhibition in the gallery, which explores Durlston’s 20th century history?