A glorious sunny morning for the patrol, the deep red sky changing to gold as I wandered around the Park. Underfoot the frozen ground was crispy and crunchy the ice on the puddles cracking under my weight.
Flying across the blue sky was a Sparrowhawk, the wide wings making a quite distinctive shape, as it moved it glided then flapped then glided again. This bird of prey eventually disappearing in amongst the Black Pines of the copse.
The scrub along the hedgerows seemed louder today, as the branches creaked and moaned, but also as the birds moved through it. The Blackbirds heard well before they emerged fluttering and flapping. Erupting from the same area was a Song Thrush and a Redwing, as they took off, it provide me with a chance to see the differences between these two closely related birds, he most obvious being the flash of red under the wing, in the low sun this was catching the light making it even more pronounced.
The bright orange of the Stinking Iris berries showing up against the otherwise mostly green and brown backdrop of Durlston in December, these pods opening into a strange triangular form.
On the downs a detour was made to see the other bright orange notable species, our new lichen Teloschistes chrysopthalmus, this small but beautifully formed species grows on a particular piece of Blackthorn, but we are hopeful of finding it in other areas of scrub.
A ‘squeak’ emitted from a bird flying overhead and a Bullfinch was identified, on looking through my binoculars the amazing bright pink chest and white rump could easily be seen as it moved across the blue sky.
The recent Bramble clearance near the centre has uncovered some large Yellow Meadow Ant hill, one of which was being stood on by a Green Woodpecker, the red moustache and glorious green back gleaming under the sun’s rays.
In the woods a Great Spotted Woodpecker landed in amongst the branches of a Sycamore, while a flock of Goldcrests was flitting through the Elm and Horse Chestnut twigs alongside some Long-tailed Tits.