Don’t let the cold dissuade you from heading out stroll this morning. Durlston basks under glorious blue skies, with the latening sunrise casting a warm glow and long shadows.
The leaves are fading to fall. I find myself kicking them along the path, along with an abundance of helicopters. Sycamore is not the only tree to seed – bright red Yew arils, Holm Oak acorns, and Horse Chestnut conkers more occasionally scattered about.
Cheery chirps and satisfying song amongst the tree canopy, where many Great Tits, Blue Tits and Chiffchaff sound. I pause to listen below the large Beech. The dawn chorus backed by an unrelenting Robin, calling somewhere out of sight.
An excitable flock of Long-tailed Tits pass through. Following one another through the Ash, onto the Monterey Cypress, and across the glade to an unusually mature Elm.
Next, the sight of a much smaller bird catches my eye – busying itself collecting insects amongst the shimmering Poplar leaves. A flash of a yellow stripe upon its head identifies it as a Goldcrest.
High above the woodland, I catch a glimpse of the Hirundine activity. Swallow, House Martin, and Sand Martin displaying their impressive aerobatics and energy despite the long migration ahead.
Flocks of Woodpigeon are also gathering in numbers, currently grouped in the tens, but soon to be viewed in hundreds, then thousands by winter.
Huge numbers of Crane Fly (Daddy Long-Legs) have appeared in the past couple of weeks. More charming, a Red Admiral and Small White butterfly flutter between the remaining Fleabane.
Buddleia and Fuchsia also still in flower, the drooping spikes of densely clustered purple flowers of the former, and dangling delicate magenta-pink ‘ballerinas’ of the latter; both welcoming a variety of different Flies.