This morning I took one of the lesser known routes into the park – the Taskers Path which runs between Southcliffe Road and Taskers Meadow. The straight narrow path runs uphill between two long straight hedgerows of leafless Blackthorn spines and decayed Sloes; all intertwined with last year’s dead dry Bracken. A Magpie calls out a harsh churr from a Hawthorn Tree, whilst a Great Tit chirps its short repetitive verses from somewhere amongst the scrub.
As I ascend across Taskers Meadow, the cold north-easterly wind picks up from behind me. Swanage Bay comes into view. The chalk white stacks of Old Harry shine bright in the dappled morning sunlight, but appear somewhat dwarfed by the great cruise ships in the distance; Anthem and Jewel ‘of The Seas’.
A sneaky gap in the scrub opens a shortcut through to the pond in Johnston Meadow. I walk along the Mossy banks, scouring between the Reeds for a glimpse of a Newt, but it’s hard to see what creatures lurk below against the dark green Algae.
Around the corner, a collection of bones reveal the fate of a young Deer. It’s vertebrae can be found a bit further long, probably dragged apart by a Fox and then stripped white-clean by various detritivores and decomposers. As I step out of the old quarr, a Skylark begins to sing from above the adjacent field.
Next I head towards the cliffs, winding down through the contours of the gully and watching a Raven croak loudly from atop a Mile Marker. Juvenile Gulls patrol back and forth along the coast, and a group squawky Jackdaws take flight as I approach Tilly Whim. In the distance, hundreds of Guillemots huddle on their ledge and raft on the calm sea below.