The clouds are well on the move today, with westerly winds blowing across the park. Some clouds carried downpours of rain; Each shower glistening in the sunlight and soon clearing to a bright blue sky. In the middle of Long Meadow a Green Woodpecker could be seen scavenging for breakfast amongst the freshly cut crop.
Rosehips, Sloeberries, and Sow Thistle make for a colourful display of reds, blues, and yellows in the hedgerow, where a Robin can be heard tweeting out of sight. Further along the path, a Wasp buzzes around the pomegranate-like fruit of a Hawthorn; whose leaves have turned as pink as the Spindle berries above.
In the woodland, I follow the trail up the hill, following the path littered with damp Sycamore leaves and acorns. A little bird catches my eye from above as it hops around the leafy branches of a Holm Oak. A quick flash of yellow on it’s head identifies it as a Goldcrest, busy catching the flies and other insects found around this tree.
As I step towards one of the viewpoints, a group of Long-tailed Tits swoop across the seascape in front of me. Waves can be seen rolling in around the headland, expanding as they fill the bay and meeting the shoreline as a continuous front. A few Crows bicker with a Buzzard, it’s great wings outstretched as it circles above the bay before diving down to escape them. Dunnock and Linnet are spotted amongst the scrub the Great Globe.
Goldfinches seem to have followed me everywhere this morning, from the car parks, down the meadow, around Durston Head and back to the office. At the weather station I record 3.2mm of rain inside the gauge, and also a Wrinkled Snail and Brown-lipped Snail sliding their way across the top of it!