A little cooler this morning, with a fresh south-easterly breeze sending Blackthorn petals tumbling from bushes, carpeting paths with white ‘confetti’.
Despite the breeze, Skylarks are in good voice, fluttering high above the meadows as they pour their breathless song into the air, with a few Pied Wagtails also passing overhead and a Buzzard wheeling above the back fields.
My eyes more on the ground this morning though, as the grassland explodes into life, with orchids galore! Fluffy brown and green Early Spider Orchids are scattered across the short turf and growing taller by the day. Still a few weeks before they reach their best, but there are plenty of this Durlston speciality to find (over 50% of the UK population are found between Durlston Head and St. Aldhelms Head).
Easier to spot are the bright pink spikes of Early Purple Orchid, with its distinctive rosette leaves, covered with black ‘ink spots’, with the first of the Green-winged Orchids also starting to appear.
Many of the meadows are starting to show fine displays of Cowslips – in a week or two they will carpet the ground.
Blue Hairy Violets dapple the downs, with the leaves of Silverweed, Agrimony, Birdsfoot Trefoil and Salad Burnet all jostling for space on the shorter turf.
The unusual leaves of Figwort are emerging in the Castle Car Park – they have a strong smell, which always makes me think of my sister’s hamster cage if she didn’t clean it out often enough!
Down along the cliffs, Guillemots and Razorbills are scattered across the water, with many more packed onto the cliffs, with Fulmars zooming around overhead, and Jackdaws displaying effortless mastery of the gusty winds, doing stoops, pinwheel turns and breath-taking plummets, with a few Gannets passing by out at sea. Rock Pipit, Peregrine and Great Black-backed Gull also on the wing. Do come and join our ‘Life on the Edge’ seabird walk at 11am today to spot some of these – no need to book, just meet in reception at the Castle.