A wild and windy morning, with Sycamores and Holm Oaks dancing in the wind around the Car Parks and fallen leaves tumbling across paths in the woodland.
A Raven, battling the wind croaks as he passes overhead, with the beautiful green-gold plumage of a Green Woodpecker glimpsed as it bobs across the road to take shelter among the Elms on the traffic island.
In the Large Copse, a wonderful smell of green wood from the newly wood-chipped path, which Cat and Stuart were re-surfacing yesterday with chips from the recent tree work carried out near the Aviaries as part of the ‘Durlston Pleasure Grounds’ project. A Jay bursts out of the trees ahead of me with a screech, with a small group of Redwing sheltering in the hedgerow at the top of Taskers meadow.
In the hedge along Long Meadow, the bare stems of Dogwood are a brilliant crimson in the morning gloom, with more splashes of colour from the berries of Stinking Iris.
In the shelter of the woods, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit and Long-tailed Tits dart among the undergrowth as the sea in Durlston Bay “roars high and low, like a giant asleep” in the words of Thomas Hardy, describing a visit to Durlston Head.
Constellations of Snowberries look amazing in the early morning dimness beneath the trees, while down at the Aviaries, things are much brighter, thanks to the recent thinning of trees. Can’t wait to see the results in the spring, as Dog Violets, Primroses and Ramsons will all be taking advantage of the lighter woodland floor. Water gurgles along the stream, which we will be clearing, restoring and replacing the Victorian stone footbridges over the next year.
Even in the depths of winter, a few flowers are still in bloom – a few Wild Carrots are still in bloom at the top of Long Meadow, along with Bristly Ox-tongue, with Gorse also in full flower “When Gorse is in bloom, kissing’s in season” though I suggest any such activity be undertaken indoors today!