A sunny start to the New Year, with the first of January dawning dry and bright, with scuffs of high cirrus in a sky brightening to a deep Royal Blue.
After a few days away, it was a nice surprise to see that the Winter-flowering Cherry in the Dell is now in full bloom, its bright pink flowers contrasting with the glossy dark green leaves of Hart’s Tongue Fern and the pale green leaves of Buddleia growing nearby.
Below the bridge a Chiffchaff weaves in and out of the tangled stems of Old Man’s Beard, draped with fluffy, grey-white seeds, with a family of Long-tailed Tits fussing through the Blackthorn scrub. Here and there, the bright red Hips of Dog Rose add unexpected dabs of colour.
A Buzzard wheels in steady, rising circles above Durlston Bay, engaged in a brief ‘dogfight’ with a Raven, who flaps out from the dense stands of Holm Oak along the Coast Path with a series of raucous croaks.
Along the clifftop, the ledges are once again packed with Guillemots, with a steady flow of birds coming in and out to sea. Shags flap past, low to the water, as a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls watch from a ledge near the Observation Point and a Fulmar carves smooth arcs around the clifftop.
Stopping at the lighthouse road bridge, I am delighted with a great view of a Bullfinch perched among the scrub, the brightening sun illuminating his crimson breast, with Chaffinches and tiny Goldcrests also feeding among the shelter of the surrounding trees. High up in the topmost branches of a Hawthorn, a Grey Squirrel sways precariously as he overlooks the Gully.
Returning to the Learning Centre, nice to see a constellation of Common Daisies on the short turf, with a pair of Magpies swaggering among the flowers, the sunshine making the oily green sheen of their black feathers gleam.