A calm and sunny start to the day, beneath a sky tinged with silver, peach and pale gold and shoals and dappled drifts of grey-blue cloud, with patches of bright blue (“enough to make a sailor a pair of trousers” as my gran used to say!).
At long last, the first hints that the season is starting to turn are appearing, with birdsong seeming more vocal and widespread. Blue Tits fill the air below the Dell with song, with Great Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Robins and Wrens all weaving among the silver tangle of Old Man’s Beard.
A flash of bright yellow, as a Goldcrest darts among the high branches of an Ash, with the harsh croak of a Jay from the depths of the Holm Oaks above Caravan Terrace.
An Oystercatcher flaps steadily across the bay to Durlston Head, it’s bright orange beak noticeable even at a distance.
Further round the Head, Fulmars swerve in towards the cliff-face, almost brushing it with their wingtips, as they display to their partners. Below them, a raft of 50 or so Auks – mostly Guillemots, with 10 much blacker Razorbills bob on the waves or preen and growl to each other, with more crowded onto the ledges or dashing in and out on flickering wings.
A Great Black-backed Gull cruises in effortless circles on huge, black wings, dwarfing the Herring Gulls around it, as a noisy gang of Jackdaws squabble and chase above the Observation Point.
A Shag flies ponderously west, just above the surface of the water.
Along the Diagonal Path, Gorse flowers blaze brilliant yellow in the morning sun, as a Dunnock scuffles through the leaf litter below.
In the woods, Hazel is covered with catkins, with the leaves of Snowdrops and Daffodils starting to push up through the woodland floor.