What a difference a day makes! After yesterday’s blasting wind, rain and crashing waves (I picked up a Dog Whelk egg case from the Coast Path at Durlston Head this morning!), this morning’s rounds seem positively springy by comparison, with a strip of bright blue sky above the sea to the south.
Despite a steady WSW breeze, the air is filled with a growing chorus of birdsong as breeding season approaches, and birds have paired off and are holding territory, or looking for a mate.
Below the Caravan Terrace bridge, the sweet, repeated refrains of a Song Thrush ring out, accompanied by the rhythmic ‘wheezing’ of Great Tits, the disyllabic calls of Chiffchaffs and the jazzy, syncopated rhythms of Dunnocks.
Long-tailed Tits chatter and squabble as they hopscotch over the tangle of Old Man’s Beard, and dark orange Bracken, with a pair of Magpies chasing each other above them – hard to tell if it was rivalry or flirtation!
‘Round the Head’, Fulmars carve easy arcs through the breeze, swooping in so close to the cliffs, that their wingtips almost brush the rocks, with a Shag, in a characteristic pose drying it’s wings near the Observation Point.
A Peregrine slides by, just below the clifftop, which is dappled with the little white flowers of Early Scurvy Grass, with a Raven calling from the top of the lower Mile Marker.
Spring flowers are becoming more numerous – even the short grass around the car parks is looking rather pretty, with purple Grape Hyacinth, pale yellow Daffodils, golden Lesser Celandine and the pale blue and white flowers of Field Speedwell all in bloom.
On the downs, among the curly, dark green leaves of Crow Garlic, a few Hairy Violets are starting to appear (just a hint of the blue carpet which will cover the downland later in the spring).
Not an April fool, sadly, but new analysis has shown that Skylarks in the UK declined by 75% between 1972 and 1996 (millions of pairs), so a great pleasure to hear their melodic, breathless song above the meadows this morning! Do help protect them by keeping to the paths, and dogs on leads or under very close control.