Low cloud, chill breeze and moisture
Condensed about my feet
A sheltered woodland cloister
And stems of wild wheat
A puzzle box with infinite sides
A twist, new faces show
There’s these and many more besides
More than I’ll ever know
Today the park held a distinctly different countenance. After around 16mm of rain the colour of much of the vegetation had changed. The green leaves of Blackthorn, Ash and Beech were simultaneously softer and more vivacious in their hue.
Wasting no time I embarked out onto the Meadows, past tall stalks of Early Purple and Early Spider Orchid, no doubt also pleased with the rain. Robin, Chiffchaffs and Great Tits made up the bulk of the sound arrangement, but as I walked further from the Learning Centre their sounds faded into those of Skylark and Song Thrush.
Stems of Bracken unfurled above the Gulley, with scattered Ground Ivy tucked between blades of grass. Fresh clumps of Crosswort lanced upwards from the earth as I turned my focus to the Yellowhammer hunt. No luck yet again. I have been reliably informed by several independent sources that they are to be seen and heard here at Durlston, just not by me apparently.
Though I’d failed my main objective yet again I did manage to get a lot of bird spotting done. Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Stonechat and Siskin were all to be seen and heard about the Gorse bushes, with a House Martin and Rock Pipit also briefly glimpsed passing on by.
A return trip via the Mile Marker Slope yielded sightings of increasingly abundant Chalk Milkwort flowers about the closely grazed turf. Slowing my step I raised my binoculars to regard a pair of Long Tailed Tits alighting by the Dry Stone Walling area, with a Pied Wagtail performing its namesake a little way beyond them.