A glorious autumn morning with some brilliant sunshine making the meadows gleam golden and a gentle breeze carrying the scents of lead mould and the sea.
Another good morning for migrant birds, with waves of birds criss-crossing a blue sky. Woodpigeons moving through in large numbers, in numerous small flocks of a dozen or two, their clattering wingbeats shattering the silence.
A few Swallows and Martins once again moving through, along with Siskin, Redpoll, and a small flock of Brambling above the Wildlife Area, settling briefly in a Sycamore.
Returning home in the dark last night, the high ‘seeps’ of Redwing passing overhead heard, with a Fieldfare (the first at Durlston this winter?) seen in the meadows this morning.
Flocks of colourful Goldfinches twitter and swirl, with a ‘charm’ of 20 or so working their way around the Knapweed heads in the Car Parks.
A successful morning for our ongoing bird-ringing study, with large numbers of Goldcrest ringed this morning (this year has seen record counts of this tiny, attractive bird record). A great close-up view of their close relative, a Firecrest as he was weighed and ringed.
Ravens croak as they circle the Large Copse, with a Kestrel quartering the Lighthouse Field, a Buzzard wheeling on the thermals above Durlston Bay and Gannet, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull and Shag passing by at sea.
In the woods, Squirrels quarrel among the branches of Holm Oaks, with a Tree-creeper shuffling up the trunk of a Sycamore in the woods.