A wonderful ‘cloudscape’ hangs above a gently rolling sea, as a steady breeze pushes a bank of twisted grey-blue cloud out across the waves – its peaks and rolling hills tinged pink at the tops. Overhead, patches of brilliant blue are scuffed with wisps of cirrus, drifting among more ominous masses of grey.
4 Redwing seem passing above Long Meadow – their rusty red ‘armpits’ echoing the pink tinged clouds above them, with Song Thrush and Dunnock working their way along the base of the hedge nearby.
A family of Long-tailed Tits are busy among the branches above the Timeline, their piercing chatter cutting through the slow rustle of branches, with a Coal Tit seen nearby.
Once again, Goldcrests are foraging in the woodland near the Castle, with Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Blue and Great Tit seen around Caravan Terrace.
A Shag flaps ponderously by below Durlston Head, while further out to sea, a skein of Brent Geese cruise past – dark silhouettes, ‘nose-to-tail’ along the horizon. A flock of 15-20 Auks also passing by, but too far out to be certain of the species.
Herring Gull and Great Black-backed Gull circle closer to the cliffs, with a Peregrine whizzing past just below the clifftop and a Kestrel hugging the cliff-face at Tilly Whim.
As I stopped to look down onto Tilly Whim ledge, I was treated to the comical sight of a Feral Pigeon popping up to check me out – only its head visible, quickly followed by another 6 in succession, before they all took flight.
A few scattered flocks of Goldfinches bob across the scrub in the Lighthouse Field, where the cattle have been doing a great job, nibbling away at the turf to ensure fantastic displays of wildflowers in the spring and summer.
A Raven croaks from high overhead, with the harsh shrieks of a Jay from the Holm Oaks above Goat Plot.
A Roe Deer is also grazing on the slopes below the Lighthouse before bounding away into the scrub.