Last night’s performance of the Theatre of the Wandering West had a full house with just over fifty attendees. During the performance I had to discretely “batten down the hatches” by closing the gallery shutters in a strong wind! The maximum gust reached 45 miles per hour at 01:03 in the morning. After the performance I saw a Fox race across the open car park to disappear into the cover of the scrub.
This morning a bold upright Robin called from the car park margin Dogwood. Upon a standing dead wood stem of Silver Birch a white bracket of Cinder Cap fungi protruded out of the stem. It was another Goldfinch galore morning, first eight then thirty passed by, however, I believe some were circulating about the castle.
Rolling waves travelled across the ordinarily sheltered Durlston Bay. The Peveril Ledges were picked out by white water. The storm had brought Gannets close to shore with four observed heading westward skimming the waves. Six Greater Black Backed Gulls travel west too, however, they passed at coast path level. One Shag was seen to travel in the opposite direction to the other sea birds! Both Anvil Point and Tilly Whim had sea spray at their feet.
Another second Robin appeared from the coastal Tamarisk to broadcast alarm calls from the dry stone wall. Somewhere within the scrub a Great Tit was heard below the Globe. Whilst taking a path under the cover of Holm Oak a Grey Squirrel bounded ahead of me, bouncing over a carpet of Ivy then pounced upon and climbed up a Holm Oak. I notice below knee height a good number of Hawthorn but fewer Holly saplings. A Bay Tree had buds and hollow “pimple” Galls upon its leaves. Beside Lighthouse Road a Viburnum was showing clusters of white flowers with evidence of more to open. Alarm calls from a Blackbird came unseen from the depth of Blackthorn scrub.
Looking down into the Gully I had three Swallows fly by heading inland. Towards the gully mouth a Jay flew across to perch in a Sycamore below the Lighthouse. I walked back up slope away from the atmospheric sound of the wind through the overhead wires. On the slope below the quarr I was surprised to find a rather well used Badger latrine that I had not seen before. At the castle upon the seaward turret stairwell I found what I suspected was a Yellow Necked Mouse (clear red brown fur with white underbelly) having been presumably dropped by a bird. Regular Duke reported Marsh Tits beside the castle bird feeder.