A grey and breezy start to the day, with a dome of grey cloud covering the park, divided by long streaks of gold as the sun rises higher.
A later finish at the Castle last night in preparation for a wedding today, so as I locked up a pair of Tawny Owls called to each other from the depths of the Holm Oak woodland below, with the ‘seeps’ of Redwing falling down from a starry sky.
In the morning gloom of the woodland, the viridescent spikes of Snowdrops are appearing on the brown woodland floor, among the leaves of Herb Robert, clumps of the spear-like leaves of Stinking Iris (covered with bright orange seeds) and fungi including Coral Spot, Dead Men’s Fingers and a slimy looking Wood Blewitt.
Small birds forage among the canopy, with the calls of Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, with Chiffchaffs, Jays and a Goldcrest also seen. A snatch of the sweet melody of a Song Thrush heard as I watched the waves at ‘Rest and Admire’ with Robins, Wrens and the syncopated rhythms of a Dunnock also heard.
A Raven flaps by above Durlston Bay, flying to perch in the topmost branches of a Monterey Cypress, while walking up the side of Long Meadow, I almost jump out of my skin at the sudden ‘chuckle’ of a Green Woodpecker from just behind me.
Once again, the ledges are full of Guillemots, with more darting in and out to feed, with 3 Great Black-backed Gulls circling on broad wings near the Observation Point, along with a single, elegant Fulmar, slipping smoothly through the gusts as a Peregrine scans the cliffs from her usual rocky perch.
Elsewhere around the Park, a Kestrel skims by above the Lighthouse Field, a pair of Magpies swagger across the short turf in the Car Parks, picking at the soft turf in search of breakfast and a flock of 30 or so Wood Pigeons clatter by, just a few metres above my head as I return to the Learning Centre.