A continuous layer of dull cloud stretches from St Catherine Point to St Aldhelm’s Head. It warms the air below to above freezing, thawing the crisp grass, and melting the hard mud across Durlston. Though, I can’t say my hands feel the difference - continually switching from taking notes to burying them in my pockets.
Chirps from Chaffinch, Magpie, and a Robin can be heard along the top of the Lighthouse Field, resonating above the low rumble of the sea in the distance. The Magpies can be seen calling out from atop the patches of Blackthorn and Gorse, perched upon the emergent Elder and Hawthorn. I spot yet another Holm Oak which has migrated its way West from the woodland.
Not many Sloes and Haws remain, and the ones that do are wilted and blackened, dulling the hedges to a gloomy thicket of thorns. Colour can however be found on the Stinking Iris and Gorse - speckled with yellow flowers, which lend a sweet coconut-scent to the breeze.
As with much of the park this time of year, it’s quiet down by the bridge. I watch a Roe Deer moving carefully through the entanglement of Traveller’s Joy: It’s vines choking the vegetation and smothering them with a layer of feathery white seed heads. A family of Great Tits also use it for cover, hopping through the branches, following one another in turn.
Wind whistles up through the gully rattling the grasses, evergreen Holly, and dead stems of Wood Sage. Herring Gulls gather above Tilly Whim, with Gannets and a Severn-class lifeboat passing out at sea. Even further out, Hamish reports a Great Northern Diver, and two Red-Throated Divers, along with a couple Kittiwake and Common Gulls.
The cliffs are busy with more seabirds; Greater Black-backed Gull, Fulmar, and Shag. Lots of Guillemots take flight between the water and cliff ledge. Amongst the rafting birds, a good 8 or so juveniles in close to the cliffs, identified by the white feathers on their heads.