Happy New Year to you all.
What a morning with the very strong wind blowing in from the south west, the average wind speed of 35mph and gusts (so far) of 49mph.
In the shelter of the easterly facing Durlston Bay, where a Shag was bobbing on the rolling water, and a couple of white winged Gannets soared past.
Scooting along the treeline was a Sparrowhawk, hugging close to the bushes as it went, until disappearing into the Holm Oak section of the woodland.
Around the headland and the buffeting from the wind began, the binoculars being moved in the air as I tried to use them, with the wind and the piles of salty sea spray blowing onto the lens, they became fairly obsolete!
A couple of Jackdaws took off from a patch of Tamarisk only to land on it again having attempted to fly forward and not really got anywhere.
No Guillemots about today, now surprising as their ledges were being showered by sea water from the breaking waves.
Both Durlston Head and Tilly Whim a fantastic sight as they were covered in white water as the waves crashed into the rocks, while down ibn the gully the blowhole was spewing huge plumes of spray high into the air.
The wind making it quite difficult to walk at times, so turning inland was a relief, and enabled me to watch a couple of finches in the scrub by the bridge.
First a Chaffinch popped its head above the Ivy, which was covering the Hawthorn, the white flashes on its wing noted before the buffy orange colour.
Then a small charm of Goldfinches descended into the white heads of the Old Man’s Beard, a good source of food for many birds, flashes of yellow, black, white and red to be seen.
The sound of a Bullfinch could just be heard above the roaring wind.