What a difference a couple of days make! My last diary, on Sunday was a battle through 60+mph winds and driving rain, while today, though still breezy, I am greeted with sunshine and even some blue sky.
The sea is still looking fantastic – ‘white horses’ gallop across Durlston Bay, framing the cliffs with white foam, with Peveril point trailing a ribbon of white water far out into a rich blue sea.
At Tilly Whim, a combination of high tides and wind mean that the blow-hole on the ledge is in full effect – with pulsing plumes of spray rising high into the air and a low boom, like someone blowing over the top of a huge bottle!
On the clifftop above the caves, a Black Redstart takes flight as I approach, zooming over the cliff edge and down to the ledge, with a flash of slate grey and rusty red.
At sea, Fulmars cut through the gusts with effortless mastery, with Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and Shag also on the wing. A few Guillemots passing by, however the ledges are empty this morning (and being scoured by large waves).
In the meadows, the leaves of Cowslips and Ox-eye Daisies are starting to appear, with a few Primroses already in bloom on Caravan Terrace. In the Lighthouse Field plenty of the rosette leaves of Early Spider Orchid can be found.
Blackthorn is already showing flower buds, with the beginnings of leaf buds on some Hawthorn. Down by the bridge, a silvery tangle of Old Man’s Beard shivers in the breeze, as Blue Tits, Great Tits, a Coal Tit and Long-tailed Tits forage among it.
Near the Centre, the ‘cronk’ of a Raven heard, as he flaps over the Reservoir Copse, with the croak of a Jay from among the trees a moment later.