The cold sharp rain hit my face as soon as I got out my car this morning, in the distance the roar of the wind echoed around me. My eye was drawn to the bright yellow talons of a Kestrel as it swooped down across the car park picking something up off the ground, then retreating to the Sycamore tree. The Silver Birch was danced in the wind, as a Robin popped out from the Hawthorn and three Carrion Crows pecked at Long Meadow.
The slightly quieter retreat of the woodland enabled me to hear a beautiful array of morning bird call. Heard but not seen was the case today. Bamboo swayed side to side, while two Magpies flew out from the Sycamore. The Avaries were still, a burst of yellow catkins from the Hazel against the green grass fill my view. I stood still and looked up at the Sycamore trees as they clatter together, high contrast of the tree tops against the dull grey sky. I heard a Green Woodpecker, just before it flew overhead, as a Blackbird flew low to the ground.
The salty air filled my lungs and the strong wind hit me as I approached the cliff tops. The wind was hurtling through the Holm Oaks, moving the trees with such vigour, the sound like an opera of musical tree tops. The waves in Durlston bay were crashing against the cliffs, while great white horses rolled in from out at sea.
I reflected on my current project which is to repair a dry stone wall along the coast path. Beach tree leaves were caught in the wind and floated up around me. I followed the dry stone wall which was a barrier between the roaring wind on the seaward side and the still woodland with only the canopy of the tree tops blowing around.
The intense damp smell of the woodland floor, protects Lords and Lady’s, Primroses and Spring Crocus. Rain drops from the leaves of the Holm Oak fall into puddles creating circles like the rings on a tree trunk.
Elsewhere in the park, Paul spotted two Roe deer does and a buck with velvet covered antlers in a neighbours garden near Smith field.