The Cherry Tree benefiting from the light created by a felled Holm Oak, showed opening blossom beside Lighthouse Road. At the top of the steps before the castle woodland, I heard the peeps of a Long Tailed Tit. At first I saw but one, however, with time I believe there were two possibly three. Wind blew a small, dry, needled twig of Gorse across the diagonal path.
Off the clifftops were rolling waves with white crests. I was only able to briefly look back towards Durlston Head due to the winds strength. Over the sea a trio of Great Black Backed Gulls flew in cliff top circuits riding thermals and the prevailing wind. Only a Shag flew low over the crest of the waves. Whilst skeletal finger like branches of Tamarisk clattered in the wind. Upon the sunny slope of the gully I saw three male Stonechats only one of which I witnessed being accompanied by a female. Much of the time they were hopping upon the ground betwixt ant hills. Today the overhead wires provided excellent vocal chords for the wind. Opposite the gully rock escarpment Sycamores swayed like giant feathers in the wind. At the escarpment itself an overhang of rock formed a miniature cave which housed a “scrap yard” of damaged and abandoned Garden Snail shells. Perhaps, this had been a Song Thrush anvil in the past. Here I also found a white paper thin shell that must have been the remains of an insect’s cocoon, yet to be identified.
It could only have been a large Roe Deer which could have been big enough to have been pushing so noisily through the Blackthorn and Hawthorn. A silhouette finally confirmed this suspicion. Both Blue Tit and Great Tit called from the scrub but the Chaffinch was the song master. An unidentified bird gave a short rattling call from the depths of upper gully scrub.
Today I managed the also view some of the meadows. It was so cold that puddles in the shade of Saxon’s Sycamore corner were covered with a glaze of ice and mud was firm under foot.