Over halfway through September. The sunrise aligns perfectly East, and creeps later and later each day. Today it rises through a cloudy haze, the sea blending seamlessly into the sky. It alights a full moon to the West. Herring Gulls hovering above.
The sunrise draws me into the woodland under the wings of a Kestrel who patrols its perimeter. Sunny blooms of Fleabane and Ragwort lining the path ahead. An easterly winds blows up from the bay, it rattles the trees and lifts the fluffy seeds of Willowherb, Hemp Agrimony, and Bristly Ox-tongue into flight; all of these plants now few in flower.
Crickets still wheeze from within. Stepping into the glade I awaken a Crane Fly, and a couple Painted Lady Butterflies. Various Hoverflies and Common Carder Bees go about their business, visiting each of the flowerheads to collect nectar and pollen. An abundance of Small White Butterflies have dominated our butterfly surveys for the past couple weeks, but none about at this time.
A scratching of claws where the Squirrels scurry up the Holm Oaks, with bird song carried through the canopy; Blue Tit, Robin, and Great Tit. A plethora of autumn fruits on display – Blackberries, Sloes, Black Bryony, and Crab-Apples upon the Malus ‘Golden Hornet’ in the Dell.
Hirundines gather at Durlston Head. It can be a little hard to identify the birds as they soar, swoop, and dive at impressive speed, but Barn Swallow, House Martin, and Sand Martin are intermixed together. A gentler charm of chattering Goldfinch also passing overhead.
My walk continues along the coast path, where I see Woodpigeon and Jackdaws clattering about the cliffs. A few lilac-coloured Sea Aster still in flower, and a hen Pheasant looking a little out of place. Peering down past the spikey-headed Teasels, a lone Shag perches upon a rock at sea-level.