A spectacularly wild, wet and windy morning, with south-westerly winds blasting rain across the park and whipping steely seas into a white-capped frenzy.
Great, rolling breakers explode into the cliffs at Tilly Whim, sending plumes of spray high into the air, while the sea disappears into a misty horizon just a few hundred metres out.
Several small flocks of gleaming white Gannets battle by through the murk, their powerful wings propelling them against the wind, with several Cormorants – high above the waves, a single Oystercatcher above the calmer waters of Durlston Bay, with Shag, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls also on the wing.
Inland, very sensibly, most birds are tucked up in the scrub and hedges, however, the ominous silhouette of a Raven seen against the mist above the Car Parks, with a pair of squabbling Jays nearby – the bright blue of their wings adding a splash of colour to a murky morning.
In the shelter of Caravan Terrace, a few Long-tailed Tits are foraging through the scrub, along with Dunnock, Chaffinch, Bullfinch and Blue and Great Tits.
Nice weather for slugs, with a large black Arion ater slug slithering across Long Meadow, with several Garden Snails along the Dogwood verge and Brown-lipped Snails on the clifftop.
Even this late in the year, a few plants are still in bloom, with Bristly Ox-tongue, Ragwort and Greater Knapweed seen this morning.
On the dark woodland floor, the bright orange seeds of Stinking Iris add a touch of vivid orange, while King Alfred’s Cakes (a charcoal black fungus) can be found on older Holm Oak branches, along with Candlesnuff Fungus, Dead Man’s Fingers and the weird purple Jelly Ear Fungus.
Heading home after dark last night, a Badger stopped to watch me as he trundled across the road, with a Roe Deer also seen grazing on the verge on the Entrance Road.