Come hear the Durlston orchestra perform each day at dawn
Squeaky wheels and rapping stones are the first to come on
Then joined by football rattlers and unexpected hoots
The Durlston Orchestra’s a band with many attributes
I was in bright and early again today for more Visitor Surveys. Heading straight into the Woodlands the squeaky wheelbarrow sounds of Great Tits rang out from the canopy above, with the mixed vocals of Blue Tits and the odd yaffle of a Green Woodpecker thrown in for good measure.
Closer to earth Durlston’s fungi continued their subdued presence, with the slowly emerging Scarlet Elf Cup complimented by a few Jelly Ear and a Yellow Brain Fungus further along the path. One of the trees to receive a heavy haircut as part of the Parks for People work had a large body of Perenniporia fraxinea growing at it’s base, so if you’re wondering why it got a thorough trim, it was for safety reasons. Fungi do not consume living cells, only dead material so the presence of this species is an indicator that the tree is unhealthy, not the cause.
Wrens, Magpies and Jays added their more raucous tones to the morning chorus as I returned to the Castle and embarked down to the Clifftops. I stopped briefly at Caravan Terrace to admire the Blushing Brackets and Southern Brackets growing in the Dell before continuing down. The rapping pebble noise of a Stonechat was audible beside the Globe, with a few Goldfinches occasionally passing overhead.
On the water a raft of roughly 85 Guillemots bobbed away happily, with Fulmars gliding above and a few Greater Black Backed Gulls perched on the Cliffs. Beside the Tilly Whim Caves I spied a Rock Pipit to my left and an Adder to my right, basking lazily in the morning sun. Rounding back to the Castle I was amazed to hear the hooting of a Tawny Owl. Perhaps it had stayed up all night partying after the rugby?