A cold, bright start to the day, with the sort of dazzling blue sky that you feel like you could fall into! Frost sparkles on the grass and yellow-flowered Gorse blazes in the bright winter sunshine.
There is a tangible sense of excitement along the cliffs, as breeding season approaches. Ravens (one of the early breeding cliff-side residents) are putting on spectacular display flights along the cliffs, stopping in mid-flight and plummeting to the ground, only to save themselves at the last minute, or rolling over on their side in mid-flight to fly along upside down. Whether or not it impresses potential mates, it certainly impresses m
Guillemots are crowded onto the ledges, growling softly as they renew their bonds with their mates and neighbours, with many more strung across the water below, or hurrying in and out on flickering wings
Fulmars circle in lazy arcs as they prospect the clifftop for nest sites, their stiff, straight wings instantly distinguishing them from the nearby Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls.
A Shag perches on a large flat rock at the foot of the cliffs, his plumage tinged with iridescent green in the bright sunshine, with a pair of black and white Oystercatchers passing Tilly Whim.
A Peregrine Falcon perches like a statue on Durlston Head, with a Kestrel circling up on the thermals above Durlston Bay.
A Green Woodpecker ‘chuckles’ as he bobs across the Car Parks, with the harsh shrieks of a Jay, the ‘cronk’ of a Raven and the high-picthced chatter of Goldcrests all heard nearby.
A Chiffchaff darts among the branches of a Holm Oak, with Long-tailed Tits, Great Tits, Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Bullfinch, Dunnock, Song Thrush and Blackbird also seen or heard among the hedges and scrub.
The musk of a Fox hangs in the air on the Coast Path, with a great view of one as I drove up last night.