Rain and lots of it! Heading along the top of long meadow where Fleabane is a drooping from the weight of the water on it, there bright yellow flowers still in full bloom. Water gushes along the drainage channels along the edge of the cost path as I head into the woodland, cutting its own path through the leaf litter.
Passing the dell where branches sag with rain over head, the light twittering of Goldfinch can be heard coming from the somewhere within a Sycamore as the birds shelter from the weather.
Heading round Durlston head the wind picks up and the rain gets wilder, sending Tamarisk fronds into a frenzy. The pale purple flowers of Sea Aster flop over the wall, adding some brightness to this dull gloomy morning.
Bramble bushes are smothered in blackberries ripe for the picking, a feast for the birds once they can escape the shelter of the scrub. Blackthorn is also covered in sloes though not as bountiful as the blackberries
Heading back up the hill past the castle, passing the ever-positive park run volunteers, who insists the rain will stop in time for there event. The wind is blowing Holm Oaks into a frenzy in the woodland the loud swooshing of their branches filling the air.
Retreating into the dry of the bird hide, the feeder is a hive of activity. Blue and Great Tits swarm the feeder, taking it in turns to head back and forth from the safety of the scrub. A Greenfinch and Chaffinch also join the feast, with Dunnocks on the ground below the feeder catching the anything that falls out.