Rosehip dangled from a wind shaken hedgerow as I headed to check on the Hereford cattle. Entering Saxon, it felt as though I was opening a spring-loaded gate, in fact I was just pushing against the wind. I entered what was once a medieval field system of strip lynchets. Here the cattle had exposed and sometimes “modified” the Ant Hills. Left pats, tracks and in places small pools in hoof prints. Fortunately, the water trough was working and not overflowing.
Possibly a Meadow Pipit was seen with one leg caught in the branches and thorn of Blackthorn. After a brief wing flapping dangle, the bird escaped. The cattle had exposed the suckering young growth (below knee height) of Blackthorn which we will cut to keep the grassland open. Two Magpies were set up at hay rake quarr where berries of Cotoneaster lingered at the margin of the short turf. Today, a group of only six “resident” Woodpigeon flew west. Unseen a Blackbird “chuckled” from within scrub cover.
A thick carpet of Tor grass remained in south facing Saxon Field, although the fresh tips and blades had been ripped off by the cattle. A Herring Gull ascended from the grassland, as I noticed a handful of cattle relatively close to a gap in the wall, so far protected by several metres of scrub. Nearby, almost as if a warning, a Carrion Crow called from a Hawthorn as another flew up the gully. Meanwhile the Small Copse evergreen Holm Oak canopy wobbled jelly like in the wine.
I looked like it was a Sparrowhawk that I flushed on my approach to scrub cover above the gully rock face. Its flight to the tree covered side opposite the ravine was diverted by a Carrion Crow interaction. The three parallel lines of overhead electrical wires jiggle and enable the wind to wail.
A Shag sat upon the sea at edge of the froth about the base of the sea cliffs. One Greater Black Backed Gull perched familiarly near the cliff cave. At least three of its kind flew west. Yesterday evening I spoke briefly about Durlston & Rewilding for the article: https://www.swanage.news/durlston-photo-exhibition-unwraps-thorny-question-of-rewilding/