Down to the cliffs this morning to enjoy the effects of the storm, the grey water seething towards the rock face, the constant grey and white mass crashing with massive force creating a huge spray of water up and over the cliffs.
This was especially spectacular from Tilly Whim where the blow-hole was trumpeting almost constantly.
Skimming just above the waves was a Shag, the long neck heading into the wind, the bird barely moving! Great Black-backed Gulls and Herring Gulls were doing better, floating through the air.
Perched much higher up the cliff than normal was a Peregrine Falcon, its usual spot being regularly submerged by spray. The feathers of this bird being ruffled by the wind. Looking down, I was able to watch, struggling to fly against the wind, another Peregrine sporting a dark almost blue-grey back.
The piping call of a Rock Pipit just heard above the sound of the water, followed by another two which were flitting around the boulders and rocks.
Around the corner in the relative shelter of Durlston Bay a Buzzard was perched in the ‘v’ of trunk and branch of a large Sycamore, this bird undertaking some preening as it sat in the sun.
The ‘squeak’ of a Bullfinch came from amongst the pile of twisted Honeysuckle and Old Man’s Beard, the pink chest spotted after a bit of a search.
Nearby the white wing flash of Chaffinch caught the attention, while alongside in the Hawthorn bush was a Dunnock whose grey head was peering above the bare twigs.
In a sheltered patch of Blackthorn, where the buds are all ready to emerge, a Great Tit churred and Blue Tits chittered.
A sudden burst of light and a Rainbow shone down, the end somewhere around Blacker’s Hole.