As the unrelenting winds roll in from the sea, the clifftops are seemingly stripped bare of all life. Only a pair of Ravens remain, patrolling the sea cliffs, as a solitary Cormorant glides Eastward over the cresting waves. Cowering deeper into my jacket, so too does the fauna of Durlston shelter amongst its hedgerows, gullies and quarrs. Life is confined to the most sheltered of areas.
The distant call of a Blackbird draws me away from the dormant coastline. Ornate Thistles line the edges of the path, guarding the Field Scabius, Agrimony, and Bird’s-foot Trefoil which colour the meadow grasses. As I cross the downs, a solitary Meadow Brown briefly braves the tempestuous winds to accompany me along the trail.
Turning a corner, I pass a Pyramidal Orchid battling the winds to stay upright, holding onto the very last of its summer hues. A Herring Gull flies high overhead, as a group of Skylarks emerge from the tall grasses in front of me. They dance fleetingly in the wind, before sheltering once more in the hedgerow.
As I rest against a towering Ash, its leaf laden branches swaying in the wind, writing today’s diary, a Gatekeeper flutters by to rest on a Blackthorn adorned with its first ripening Sloes of the year.