A beautiful sunny morning, and I chose to take a look at the meadows and the cattle – the Hereford cattle were moved to Saxon field yesterday, and were today munching on the fresher grass, their orange, brown, chestnut hides glowing in the sunlight.
With a herd of cattle and the recent rainfall comes a bit of mud, so to avoid this, take a walk through the woods, along the clifftops or the downland.
As I stapled “Please Close the Gate” signs to the gate, I was met by a pregnant Cow leaning over the wooden barriers, suddenly also perched on the rail was a Sparrowhawk. This amazing bird of prey, with bright yellow around its eye and yellow feet, sat for a few moments before swooping off, the dark brown back swaying as it flew low above the rough grassland. What a delight to see.
At the bottom of the hedgerow a couple of purple flowers were showing, these both being Greater Knapweed, a quite wispy example compared to their pomp in the summer.
As I stood enjoying the view across the Gully the tinking call of a flock of Goldfinches alerted me to activity, as they landed in the top of a Wayfaring Tree.
Nearby a small flock of Long-tailed Tits were moving through the branches of an Ivy covered Elder tree and into the branches of a Sycamore.
Above me two Ducks in flight, probably Mallards, but still fairly unusual here at Durlston.
My eye was then drawn to a Song Thrush as it perched on the spiky tendrils of a Dog Rose.
A Great Tit peering into one of our London Bollards, checking it for food or shelter or future breeding hole perhaps. The smart yellow waistcoat split by the black shirt!
Last night as I finished (in the dark) a Fox trotted across the path ahead of me.