A chilly, grey start to the day, but although much of the meadows are thoroughly sodden underfoot, a dry morning.
A wander out onto the downland to check on our Hereford cattle, who are steadily munching away on the Tor Grass, opening up the sward to maintain Durlston’s internationally important short turf flowers, which will dapple the downland later in the year.
A few flowers of Great Periwinkle are in bloom, along with ‘marzipan’ scented Winter Heliotrope.
Not much in the way of flowers at the moment, although a patch of Gorse is looking fantastic, the yellow flowers blazing through the gloom! From its depths, the insistent song of a Great Tit, with the syncopated rhythms of a Dunnock and the sharp ticks of a Wren also heard.
Jangling flocks of brightly coloured Goldfinches brighten the rather drab branches of Hawthorn and Blackthorn, with the croaking of a Raven heard from overhead. A Pheasant charges across the open grass ahead of me ‘clucking’ in alarm, with a glimpse of a Sparrowhawk diving through a gap in the scrub.
The sea is a steely grey, with the wind picking out a few whitecaps here and there. A Gannet glides by in the distance – his vivid white feathers making him stand out even hundreds of metres out. A fantastic view of a pair of Brent Geese, just 50 feet or so out from the cliffs, giving me the chance to inspect the detail of their plumage as they flapped by.
Above Durlston head, a flock of Goldcrests flit through the canopy, with the hoots of a Tawny Owl and the ‘rattle’ of a Jay heard from among the Holm Oaks nearby.
A nice view of a Coal Tit on Caravan Terrace, where a pair of Robins are having a ‘sing off’, with the manic cackle of a Green Woodpecker heard as he bobs across Long Meadow.