My morning started by briefly preparing items for events: Sylvia’s “Meet a Moth” and resident artist David Foster’s morning presentation and a child’s birthday party!
A Tawny Owl briefly called from the Small Copse. A moth briefly met me on escaping from the opened gallery shutters. Peak out from between a gap in the gallery amphitheatre seta could be the fronds of a solid fern, perhaps Harts Tongue, however, I needed to check later. About the globe I had two pied birds with a Magpie and a Pied Wagtail. Nearby the grating calls of Jay pierced the calm. Off Durlston head the large, dark bird flying west close over the sea was a Shag of course! I could not help but think of our absent early morning Dolphin Watcher Ann Seedall whom has not been able to do her early morning reports. On behalf of all a Durlston I wished her back to full health soon. Just west of the Dolphin watchers shelter I heard the call of a Peregrine Flacon, however, despite scanning the cliff face it could not be seen. As suspected around the next corner and below a view point the Falcon perched with its back to the sea so that we exchanged glances over a few metres. By the gully moth passed three Rock Pipit and two Great Black Back Gull all headed west. Perhaps one of these had been the one I saw perched half way up / down the cliff face earlier. Meanwhile I counted over a score of Garden Snail upon and around cliff side Rock Samphire.
Again on rounding Anvil Point I was amazed to see a good thirty Sea Campion flowers in good health. I hoped I might finally fine an Autumn Gentian upon the Green. One could not miss the thousands of Striped snails (less than 1 cm in diameter) upon the short sward. At Lighthouse Green the Jackdaw clattering had reached two score. Here I had plenty of time to study the Wheatear that perch on the green’s rock outcrop. The blackness of its beak extended to meet its eye band. Nervously it flicked it white tail finished with a black tip. Overhead flitted collect migrant birds beyond my sight and patience! A Kestrel flew down the gully only to do an about turn so as to flow over the coastal down land slopes. Near the Quarr within the ungrazed downland Knapweed, Scabious and Bastard Toadflax flowers gave a little colour.