The grey morning drew my towards Long Meadow, where a Green Woodpecker was calling loudly, the ‘yaffle’ as it took off and landed making this large green and yellow bird easy to spot. A second Green Woodpecker then also rose from the ground, this a speckled youngster.
Flitting in and out of the hedgerow was a flock of Willow Warblers, the yellow bodies showing as they landed, but these small migrants soon disappeared amongst the mass of multi-coloured greens and yellow leaves of Willow, Field Maple, Oak and Dogwood.
Down through the woods the plaintive cry of some young bird could be heard, the high pitched calling coming from high in the trees, despite spending a lot of time craning my neck skyward I was unable to locate and identify the culprit, however I as able to watch a variety of other activity.
A Grey Squirrel steadily munching through the dangling seed pods of an Ash, this creature was dropping parts of the tree down to the woodland floor each crashing through the canopy on its way.
A number of flies, hoverflies and bees and wasps were disturbed by this activity, as each leaf was bombarded so the insects took flight.
A Great Spotted Woodpecker was holding on to the large trunk of a Sycamore and moving through the leaves was a group of Great Tits and Blue Tits.
Looking down into Durlston Bay, I could see a Shag bobbing on the water and a small flock of Herring Gulls of a variety of ages, a quick scan for Seals and/or Dolphins but no luck.
Launching itself from the branches of a Black Pine was a Buzzard, the brown bird starting to quarter across the landslip before using its long wings to start to circle.
The hedgerows are now turning towards autumn with berries coming to the fore, to include Blackberries, Haws, Hips and Sloes, plus Stinking Iris and Black Bryony.
The sound of Goldfinches alerted me to the flittering flock amongst the Wild Parsnip and Woolly Thistle patch, as a Bullfinch and a Chaffinch looked on.