There is a bit of a nip in that wind this morning, it felt much cooler than of late, yet the May sun still shines, and cloud is a rare site! I head towards the Pleasure Ground Woodlands where I spot a Wren, Robin, and Blackbird. Passing Long Meadow and into the woodland a Blue Tit can be heard amongst the Holm Oak, here a view of Durlston Bay where I spot many Herring Gulls and Jackdaws in flight. Towards the castle I notice one of the Stinking Iris is in flower with its elongated blue petals, I hear a Bullfinch and Goldfinch.
Walking onto the Clifftop Trail I notice the waves down below are somewhat rougher than of late. At the viewpoint, spotted is a Raven, many a Guillemot on the English Channel with the odd darker Razorbills mixed in with the rounder bills – Guillemots have more pointer ones. Also spotted are some Feral Pigeons, Wood Pigeons, Fulmar, Herring Gulls, Jackdaws, and Shag. Further on a Wall Brown butterfly is spotted not resting on anything for long mind – bit chilly. Along the coastal path I notice the Thrift well in flower, the flowers are in clumps and have light pink petals with yellow anthers. Towards the Gully a Greater Black-backed Gull is spotted with its large wingspan.
Down the gully and passing the lighthouse plants spotted in great numbers, other than the Thrift, are: Rock Samphire, Birds-foot Trefoil and Sea Beat. It is worth noting it is much warmer at the bottom of the gully, the south facing coast being a blocker from the cold northerly wind. Passing the Tamarisk I take the tarmacked Lighthouse Road, where Skylarks are making their presence heard. I spot a Meadow Pipit and hear a Chiffchaff, spotted to the left of me is a clump of yellow and blue flowers, the yellow is Horse-shoe Vetch, the blue is Milkwort, also spotted here is the Early-spider Orchid – quite a few of them.
Under the bridge where the gully is, I wait and listen out for the birds with my Merlin app on, I could hear a Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Magpie, I spotted a Whitethroat and a couple of Blue Tits. Merlin detected a European Pied Flycatcher – I cannot verify this however as I did not see it and to be honest, I’m not even sure what it sounds like, but I do know it is red listed as a greatest conservation concern. Noticing the time, I walked quickly up to the Learning Centre, I did pass Early-Purple Orchids on the way, just before one of the old quarries going uphill on Lighthouse Road and on the same side.
Merlin App detected: Swift, Long-Tailed Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock, Blackbird, Whitethroat, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Blue Tit, Wren and Robin. Merlin app also detected Barn Owl and European Pied Flycatcher but I did not see or hear and unsure about the latter.