The Park shrouded in thick veils of fog this morning, making the silhouettes of Blackthorn and Hawthorn emerge mysteriously from the mist as I walk across the downs. A heavy dew has strung cobwebs with sparkling beads, while here and there patches of white frost still glitter on the grass
The calls and songs of birds ring out through the still air, with the fluttering wings of a displaying Great Tit making me turn just in time to see a short, fluttery display flight, as he warms up for breeding season. Blue Tits are also starting to display, with the ‘swee’-ing of Greenfinches, tutting of Wrens, insistent song of Robins and excited, bubbling calls of Goldfinches all heard around the hedges and scrub. A few fragments of song from Chaffinches, starting to warm up their voices.
Also seen or heard, several large families of Long-tailed Tits, along with Wren, Song Thrush, Blackbird and Dunnock.
Jays rattle noisily through the canopy in the woods, sending twigs and leaves tumbling onto the path below, with a Great Spotted Woodpecker darting across the Aviary Glade and Grey Squirrels chasing through the branches.
On the woodland floor, Hartstongue Fern is covered with felt-like brown sporangia, while the glossy leaves of Ivy and Stinking Iris gleam with dew. Evergreen Laurenistus is covered with tiny fresh lime green leaves.
Durlston Bay is invisible in the mist and it is only a little clearer down on the clifftop, where Fulmars wheel out of the mist like ghosts and the growls of Guillemots rise up from the mist below. A Peregrine Falcon lurks on the cliff edge, turning her head slowly as she scans for prey.
A little clearer off Tilly Whim, with just enough clear air to spot a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls as they whizzed past.