A mild and grey start to the day, though an increasingly vocal chorus of songs and calls hints at the turning of the season and that spring is not too far away!
Around the Park, Great Tits are in good voice, squeaking out their ‘teacher-teacher’ calls from atop the bare branches of Hawthorn and Blackthorn. Robins splutter out their explosive songs, while Song Thrushes essay their melodious repeated phrases, mingling with the syncopated rhythms of Dunnocks, the chatter of Long-tailed Tits, jangling, ‘sleighbell’ calls of Goldfinches and the sharp ‘tuts’ of Wrens.
Near the top of the Lighthouse Field, the harsh croaks of a Raven heard, as it passes overhead, with a Peregrine Falcon perched on top of the lower Mile Marker, scanning for prey.
Our cows are happily munching their way through the Tor Grass in the Lighthouse Field – this grazing is what creates what is probably the richest area for plant diversity for it’s size in Purbeck. Please help by closing gates as you enter or leave and keeping dogs on leads or under very close control.
Down on the cliffs, there is a palpable sense of rising excitement, as the spring approaches. A raft of 70+ Guillemots are scattered across the water, including a few still in their paler, speckled ‘winter’ plumage. 6 Razorbills are mixed in with the group – much blacker than the Guillemots around them.
Above them Fulmars veer and swerve in dizzying arcs, Shags flap by, almost brushing the water with their wingtips and a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls fuss over each other on a rocky outcrop just below the path. Near Tilly Whim, a Raven passes by with a beak full of twigs, suggesting they already have a nest on the go.
Just outside the Castle, Daffodils are starting to bloom, with a few Snowdrops now in flower in the woodland, along with fresh green Spring Crocus leaves.