Today's weather: Very warm, dry and sunny!
This morning’s walk in the warm Durlston sunshine was the best way to ease myself into returning to ‘work’ as I return from a week’s holiday at Loch Arkaig in the wet highlands of Scotland.
As I step out in South Field the meadow is alive with the buzz of insects; crickets, bees and grasshoppers surround me, starting their day. Gatekeepers flutter from flower to flower of Fleabane, Agrimony and Saw-wort. Many flowers such as Hay Rattle have gone to seed now.
The hedgerows are a show of colour at the moment, with flowers of Honeysuckle, Bittersweet and the white Hedge Bindweed crawling along the tops of them. The Brambles have started to flower reminding me that blackberry season will soon be upon us!
Down by the bridge, three Carrion Crows squawk loudly in discussion, whilst a pair of Robins and a Wren spot me and disappear into the foliage. More confident Great Tits fly between the trees in a quick flash of blue as if they’re playing a game of chase.
At the end of the Gully the glistening sea is calm; very welcoming a day like today! I spot two kayakers on the the water paddling their way along the cliffs. The squeaks of a Rock pipit draws my attention back to the cliffs where I see three of them playfully jumping between the Golden Samphire and mostly gone over Sea Thrift.
Although without the Sea Eagles, Pine Martens and Red Deer of Scotland, Durlston’s wildife is certainly in full bloom at the moment, I look forward to see what more butterflies, birds and bugs this day of sunshine will bring!
Today's diary written by Ben