Blooming in the shade
Five petals so familiar
I forget you not
This morning the sky was arrayed with a pleasant layer of altostratus, breaking up on one side into a patchwork of altocumulus. Not quite mackerel sky, but not far off. Beneath this pleasant backdrop I entered Durlston through the woodlands, strolling up the bark chip path past Lesser Celandine, Ramsons and Daffodils.
Closing in on the Leaning Centre I noted the beautifully mown verges in the Car Park, with a few patches of Goosegrass that had escaped the whirling blades. Chiffchaffs were singing, and I noted the unexpected presence of a Pied Wagtail.
Crossing out over the Meadows I noted the increasing prevalence of Cowslips, potmarking the fields with an ever increasing quantity of yellow. A few curls of Crow Garlic had set up shop in the Saxon Field and Common Orange Lichen coated more than a few branches of Hawthorn beneath the fresh white blossom of spring. The ambient sounds of Chaffinches and Blackbirds accompanied me as I strolled, turning seaward to skirt over the top of the Gulley.
Charlock and Bluebells grew in clumps beside the path, with the distant strains of Skylarks filtering towards me through the still morning air. Crossing down the Lighthouse Slope a Meadow Pipit alighted briefly in a nearby bush before taking wing again.
The Coast Path was showing a few pink blooms of thrift, as well as Sea Campion and the white flowers of Early Scurvy Grass and the green leaves of Wild Cabbage. There’s a salad in the making there I think.
Our seabirds were out in force as well with a healthy population of Guillemots sitting and floating in their usual places. Fulmars and Greater Black Backed Gulls soared through the air and as Peregrine Falcon watched silently from it’s perch on the Cliffs.