An hour spent on Durlston’s grounds
Is hardly time enough
So many sights and smells and sounds
Each a diamond in the rough
I heard the loud call of a Green Woodpecker before I had even entered the park this morning, the sound clear and crisp just before the break of dawn. I turned off lighthouse road into Smith Field, hoping to spot a few large mammals. No luck today, but I did spy the shadowy form of a Rabbit bounding into a hedgerow.
The Car Park hosted a healthy group of Great Tits, rattling off their alarm chirps rather than singing. I caught a brief view of a Kestrel as it circled overhead, explaining why they were so on edge.
Turning down to Long Meadow, I passed beneath the overhanging branches of a young Turkey Oak, which supported a few round marble galls, homes for Gall Wasp larvae, as well as a Brown Tailed Moth nest. Like a little apartment complex for insects.
The Woodland Path revealed the shrivelled remnants of a few Scarlet Elf Cup fungi, and a confusing series of squeaks drew my eyes upward to a group of Grey Squirrels, one of whom was being rather vocal.
I paused beside a short Holly tree, my eyes catching a flicker of movement within. I watched a few Blue Tits dance in and out before a different bird emerged, resting very still on the trunk of a nearby Ash. A Nuthatch, with red belly, grey back and wings and its distinctive “Burglar Bill” stripe over the eyes.
I took a few less trodden paths through the woods, scanning all the while for more fungi without success. The Hartstongue Ferns that grow thick on the woodland understory licking at my legs as I walked past. The ground remained bare of anything mycological until I reached the timeline, where I checked on the Red Cage Fungus that had emerged some weeks ago. It had yet to open, and its innards remained tightly coiled, instead of spilled out in all their vivid red glory.
Past the Castle and down the Coast Path, a Blackbird and a Goldfinch sat side by side on the Tamarisk, the former fluttering off quickly, the latter lingering a little longer. A duo of Shags skimmed over the waves, flying together in a close pairing out to sea. I gazed out for a moment over the cliffs. I swear I’d spend all day walking around the park if they’d let me.