What a glorious morning. Such a happy change from yesterday’s pelting rain. Starting off a little on the chilly-fingers side, the sun has been warming the morning up nicely.
This morning I had the pleasure of walking the meadow trails with Katie, chasing the bird calls and flashes of wings amongst the brambles and trees. We had a very promising start, spotting Goldfinches, Great Tits, and Chaffinches outside the Learning Centre, followed by three lovely Bullfinches, flying overhead, identified by the pop of pink on the male’s belly.
A little further along, after greeting the cows a hearty good morning, the Great copse revealed a pair of Kestrels caught in an aerial ballet. The pair were shortly joined by Ravens and a Long-tailed Tit also dancing above the trees. Hopping amongst the Hawthorn near the pond were a pair of Redwings and a few Blackbirds, with their yellow beaks on show.
Heading towards the cliffs, we watched a train of Jackdaws flitting amongst the gorse. The clifftop meadows provided a selection of mushrooms among which were Puffballs, Parasol, Field Blewit, and Horse.
Spotted amidst the plethora of Yellow Meadow Ant hills dotting the fields near the lighthouse, was a single, bright spot of purple Knapweed – which upon closer inspection, revealed a tiny snail and slug deep in conversation and likely a little miffed to be disturbed.
We were saddened to discover that the spack from The Quarr has been broken, looking as though it has been used as a seat. It has now been removed, but it may take some time before we can find another suitable tree of spack-making quality to replace it.
If, by chance, any of you are in search of a little bit of international flavour with your clifftop walk this morning, see if you can spot the 'Inukshuk'. I was quite excited to see it myself, so a great big Canadian thank you to the young couple who visited Durlston last week, as I believe it was you who built it.