A foggy morning with just a few hundred meters of visibility off the cliffs until the sea meets a wall of white cloud. However it appears to be steadily clearing eastward and revealing more of the gloomy grey sea below.
Chirps from Dunnock and Great Tit are heard across the scrubland. I wait until I catch a glimpse of them both – Dunnock mostly brown but mottled black, Great Tits offering a flash of green feathers alongside blue wings, and a black cap.
It’s quiet along the clifftop with some just the aerobatics of a few Swallows, and some juvenile Herring Gull with their grey plumage on patrol. Woodpigeons are stationed along the cliff edge but appear to stay close to the land when taking flight.
Then I spot why – a female Peregrine Falcon perched upon a rocky outcrop. She watches on along the coast, with only movement of her head twitching back and forth, wings tucked into her barred chest.
Tamarisk lines the coastal path to Durlston Head, as it has done since it was planted here by the Victorians. Beneath it’s fronds, you’ll find the last of the Creeping Thistle in flower, Sea Aster, and the bright orange Stinking Iris berries which are revealed from the three-sided seed pods.
Rock Samphire appears from crevices in the dry stone walls, as does the English Ivy and Wild Madder. I look back to see the Peregrine has now taken flight and disappeared beyond the cliffs to the west.
Sheltered from the prevailing southwesterlies, Durlston’s eastern slopes grow thicker with vegetation. Here, the Blackthorn towers, and Sycamores emerge through the top. Robin song is heard in every direction.
Lastly, I enjoy watching a family of Long-tailed Tits feast upon the Crab-apples in the Dell.