A delightful early patrol, starting down towards the cliffs where the highlight was a Fulmar, quartering along the rock face, other seabirds about included a long necked Shag bobbing on the water, a Great Black-backed Gull perched on an outcrop and Herring Gulls cackling.
The flowers providing the occasional splash of colour to the otherwise brown landscape, the pale lilac of Sea Aster joining the bright gold of Golden Samphire and the pale green of Rock Samphire. Also spotted was the occasional Durlston Sea Lavender flower and Thrift.
Up along the downland the white umbel flowerheads of Wild Carrot are far outweighed by the now dead brown heads. Low to the ground the delicate pink coloured Squinancywort is showing as are the flowers of Burnet Saxifrage and the yellow Lady’s Bedstraw.
As I sat on a wooden stile, sun on my back and a westerly breeze on my face I was able to watch a flock of Goldfinches, whose bright yellow flashes on the wings caught the sun’s rays.
A glimpse of white followed by a flash of pink identified a Bullfinch, while a flicking red tail was a Redstart. Overhead a Pied Wagtail undulated across the sky as a few Swallows glided about.
Perched on the fenceline some Linnets, the pink bib and white feathers on the wings noticeable. In the scrub a Garden Warbler – not much to catch the eye except for its blandness! Also spotted were Common Whitethroats and a Blackcap.
Fluttering up from the meadow were Small Heath and Meadow Brown butterflies, a Common Blue and an Adonis Blue on the down, while from the hedgerow a Speckled Wood butterfly and a Silver-Y moth emerged.
The bird ringers added Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler and Nightjar to the list.
As I arrived back, just outside the Centre a Rabbit was sitting on the lump of fossilised wood by the fossil wall.