A chilly grey morning compared to the rest of the week, but this doesn’t stop the birds from singing and the flowers from blooming. With a light rain shower this morning, four Blackbirds take the opportunity to hunt for worms in the short grass around the long meadow picnic benches.
Below the Caravan Terrace bridge a male Black Cap flits amongst the branches Blackthorn, the distinctive “black cap” making it easy to identify. A nearby Blackthorn is smothered in snowy white blossom with two Blue Tits hoping around its branches, the blue plumage striking against the white back drop.
In Durlston Bay a lone Shag sits on the water before dramatically taking off and flying round the headland. Violets are scattered in the shorter turf to the edge of the path, tiny pops of purple poking out of the grass.
Further round two Razorbills can be seen floating on the water, though before I can reach for my binoculars, they dive under the water in tandem and disappear. Guillemots form loose rafts on the water of about 3 to 5 birds in each raft, below the glass observation point. The low gurning sound of them chattering occasionally drifts up on the wind. The ledge is full but not packed with a few birds flying off as I watch, making me wonder if they will stick around long enough today to see them on the camera in the castle.
A Kestrel zooms past along the top of the cliff and disappears out of sight below Tilly Whim, though the sound of it calling to another nearby can still be heard. Up the steep hill past the mile markers where I spot a smattering of Early Spider Orchids just above the top mile marker. Over the road at the top where I spot my first Early Purple Orchids of the year, three can be seen just coming into flower. A White Throats scratchy call punctuates the moment as the bird calls from a nearby Blackthorn.