A gentle flow of water makes it way along the Sunnydale stream, meandering around the moss covered banks and buttress-like roots of the large Beech trees. A gust of winds blows through, leaving yellowing leaves of Hazel, Lime, and Sycamore tumbling to the ground.
The water makes it way through the under-storey of Laurel and Rhododendron – relics of the ornamental shrubberies planted here in Victorian times. It disappears through the stone footbridge which stares back at me like a stern-faced owl; two large lintels for brows, pretty stone arches for eyelashes and a large cut-water for a beak.
The woodland remained largely silent until I reached the turning for Solent Road*, where Great Tits tweet, Magpies churr, and a group of Crows caw and screech at one another towards the cliff edge. Out to sea, the four big cruise ships have returned; Allure, Anthem, Jewell, and Explorer of the Seas. The calming chimes of Goldfinches can be heard from above as small groups of the birds flutter their way along the coast.
As I walk towards the castle, I spy a Jackdaw stood atop it’s end turret, and viewed through a recently cleared area of scrub. Hundreds of Woodpigeons could be seen the trees canopy opened up above me. They fly in unison, gliding, swooping, and soaring as one, like a murmuration of starlings. Next to me, a Grey Squirrel explodes out of a small Buddleia bush. He freezes in the middle of the track as if I cannot see him, before scuttling up a nearby Holm Oak.
Aside from the usual autumn greens, yellows, and browns, occasional splashes of colour can still be seen along the coast path; Valerian still in flower, ripe blue Sloes alongside bright red Bryony berries – which could almost look tempting to eat if they weren’t poisonous!
*Did you know? We have a lovely new map of the park which might help you learn some of the locations mentioned in our daily diaries. Click the 'Visit' tablet on our website to view: www.durlston.co.uk/visit-about-durlston.aspx