Glorious again as I took the early patrol around Durlston. To the clifftops, where the growling and churring of the Guillemot colony was the overriding sound as hundreds of these chocolate brown and white auks huddled together on the ledge and more bobbed on the water.
Unusually, keeping themselves separate from the Guillemots was a raft of 27 Razorbills, their much blacker bodies showing well in the sunlight.
A single Fulmar was circling along the cliff face, while Jackdaws were occupying lots of the rock outcrops.
Onto the downland and the heavy frost from last night still much in evidence, a covering of white water crystals on the blades of grass. The fantastic sound of a Skylark was pouring down from high in the blue sky, while another was standing on the top of a Yellow Meadow Ant hill.
Nearby a group of Meadow Pipits flitted along the fenceline, causing a Stonechat to flutter upwards, before landing again amongst the mass of Blackthorn scrub.
A strange scuttling action, as a brown shape moved across the path ahead, intrigued me, so changed my route to see what it was. And there was a Red-legged Partridge, the face markings of long white stripe above its eyes and down its head, accompanied by a lower black stripe. As I watched it take off two dark red patches were evident either side of its tail.
Back through the fields and calling of a Chaffinch along with those of some Goldfinches accompanied me, followed by a Dunnock in full voice and the trill of a Wren.
As I approached the Quarr a bird was flying toward me, stopping to sit on the top of a patch of Bramble, a quick look through my binoculars and a double-take – a Cirl Bunting was perched. The yellow stripes very noticeable, it then produced a short burst of call. Not what I expected to see or hear!! May be they will breed here again as they did last year.