A cool, grey start to the day, however nonetheless, spring is starting to work it’s magic across the Park.
On Caravan Terrace, banks of Primroses stud the turf, surrounded by the fresh green leaves of Red Valerian, Cleavers and Lords and Ladies. Above them, the Tufa spring trickles down the rock face – it’s sparkling water depositing a crust of limescale onto the stems of Ivy which cling to the rocks.
Above the ledge, a Bullfinch – brilliant crimson perches on a tall Blackthorn, with the jazzy, syncopated rhythms of a Dunnock heard nearby.
A Wayfaring Tree on the clifftop is just starting to bud, with fluffy catkins also starting to appear on Sallow.
Near the Globe, the blue flowers of Great Periwinkle are starting to bloom, with fresh green Nettles appearing on some of the newly cleared ground.
An Oystercatcher calls mournfully as it crosses Durlston Bay – it’s bright orange ‘carrot’ beak clearly visible even without my binoculars.
A quick ‘up and down’ to Tilly Whim and along to where the Guillemots are packed onto the ledges, with 8 Razorbills on the water below them.
A Rock Pipits darts around the ledge at Tilly Whim, as a Peregrine Falcon hurtles past just below the Clifftop. Just on the cliff edge, a patch of low-growing Gorse is covered in brilliant yellow flowers.
Greenfinches ‘swee’ from among the Gorse along the Diagonal Path, where song from Blue Tits, Great Tits, Song Thrush and Robin and the ticking alarm calls of a Wren were also heard.
In the meadows, Skylarks are in song, with the less musical croaks of a Raven and harsh shrieks of a Jay heard from within the Large Copse.