Compared to my last, blustery patrol on Saturday, this morning is clear and bright, though towering clouds over the English Channel still threaten a wetter afternoon.
The usual suspects are active in the car park as I arrive, Wood Pigeons clattering away at my approach, Blackbirds rushing each other in territorial bravado and a Jay, that multicoloured corvid, powering towards the treeline determinedly.
The Learning Centre pond area is once again unexpectedly quiet, though the ubiquitous rattle of a Robin can be heard, warning off intruders. The Song Thrush that has taken up residence in the car park is once again in full voice, its rich song forever meandering and perambulating.
A more vigorous sou’westerly breeze reaches me as I enter Lighthouse Field, where I’m greeted by Purbeck’s own version of the African savannah, as two Magpie cling to the haunches of a Hereford cow, presumably feeding on insects disturbed by the animal’s grazing.
Descending to the Lighthouse bridge, the Gully is typically busy with birdlife. Further furious tittering from Robins, the tinkle of Goldfinch and Long-tailed Tit, and a fly-over by a contact-calling Meadow Pipit, all while a watchful ‘clattering’ of Jackdaws observe me from a bare Sycamore.
Looking back East across the Gully, a pair of scimitar-winged silhouettes ride the headwind. Our resident Peregrine Falcons are unusually languid, lazily banking back and forth in companionable silence, before all at once turning with the wind and rushing towards Durlston Head, just a brief taste of their incredible agility and speed.
Skirting the Lighthouse on the South West Coast Path, I bump into former Durlston Ranger Hamish, who reports Red-throated Divers, Siskins, Bramblings and around 2000 Razorbills offshore.
Ascending to the corner of the Clifftop Trail, a profusion of yellow from the late-flowering Gorse covers the slopes. These thickets are seething with industrious Blue Tits, forever flitting, bickering and seeking out their invertebrate prey.