From the observation point four Fulmars were engaged in their pirouetting cliff side flight. A fifth bird was coaxed from the cliff thanks to a brief vocal exchange with its mate. It looks as if we are to have three breeding Fulmar pairs again this year!
Further west a duo of Peregrine Falcons was perched one above the other on the cliff face, some twenty metres apart. With their backs to the sea, the predators appeared to monitor the coming and goings of the Guillemots below them. Neither Falcon nor Fulmar were concerned when the latter flew past the former’s perch. The lower Peregrine’s perch was soon occupied by a Greater Black Back Gull. Our second Peregrine had relocated to a more westerly spot at a similar height to its partner. I was able to admire its slate grey face “mask”, white “bib” and striped breast. This bird later fleetingly appeared at the gully mouth where in turned to fly back eastward.
Two rafts containing four and a score of Guillemots gargled and preened upon the brine. An estimated seventy of the seabirds occupied the cave ledge. Beside the cliff top dry-stone wall fresh leaves had begun to emerge upon Honeysuckle. Our own Anvil Point and the Island’s Needles Lighthouses showed their lamps but not St. Catherine’s Head. The Island’s illuminated radio mast was observed through the binoculars.
Peering down to the gully mouth I manged to send up the score of Rock Doves that had been otherwise content on the short grassland beside the coastal steps. Walking up the gully mouth floor the steep grassy side had plenty of bare soil, ripe for seeds, burrowing creatures and for future basking sites. Apart from the chatter of the Lighthouse Jackdaws above, the gully was most quiet. An occasional Blackbird alarm call was heard. Eventually both a Rabbit and Hen Pheasant put in cautious appearances at the scrub margins beneath the inland gully rock exposure. The sound of a pair noisy Magpies on the opposite side of the gully dominated above the quieter, yet more pleasant vocals of the Blue Tit in a Hawthorn nearby. The Castle’s “wildflower meadow” area already have two flowers standing proud upon Scabious stem! Upon opening the castle twelve Gannets were circling off Durlston Head.