A glorious early morning, down through the woods where the trees were set superbly against the blue sky.
The leaves of the Horse Chestnut, five bright green long leaves per stalk, unfurling, getting bigger daily. The frilly edged Hazel leaves also showing well, while the Beech sheaths are just beginning to open.
Meanwhile Sycamore, Ash and Oak are still tightly closed as April begins. This gives a chance to count the Rook nests – 11 messy clumps of twigs spotted waving high above, while the sound and sight of the Rooks, the pale above their beak showing well in this light.
Carrion Crows and Magpies both also building nests, while by the cliffs Jackdaws are carrying clumps of soft moss and grass for their nests. To complete our corvid list, the croak of a Raven erupted from near the lighthouse and the squawk of a Jay came from near the car parks.
Accompanying me around my patrol was the calling of a Chiffchaff, the two-tone call chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff-chiff.
From the blossom covered Blackthorn a Great Tit was also calling, allowing for a comparison of these slightly similar tunes – the Great Tit calling ‘tea-chr-tea-cher’.
The wheeze of a Greenfinch and the loud repetitions of a Song Thrush added to the mornings chorus, while a male Chaffinch sat silently in the Hawthorn.
The sun was shining on the sea, where a large raft of about 80 Guillemots was bobbing, in amongst these 32 Razorbills, spotted as they are much blacker and have a thicker beak.
A Fulmar soaring in and out of the rock, a Shag carrying a long strand of material for its nest and a Great Black=backed Gull gliding by all added to the activity.
As I returned up the hill a Sparrowhawk dashed past, up and over the dry-stone wall.
On the ground a few Greater Bloody-nosed Beetles were trundling, while spotted earlier this week a new beetle species for Durlston – the Heather Beetle (Lochmaea suturalis)– which, as we don’t have any heather, which is the foodplant of the larvae, is likely to have come from a nearby garden where heather is growing!