I started my walk today with a search for the tiny Red Hazel flowers now showing on small branches. Trying to photograph them is incredibly difficult, at the weekend I managed to find some at a different site but was still unable to get a decent photo. I think I will have to go on the search again and take my macro lens and close-up filters. Around the Aviary glade Lesser Celandine, Primrose and Daisies are creating lovely spring colours, the purple Crocuses are now looking incredibly sad as they lie on the ground, their short-lived time in flower now over for another year. I heard a Treecreeper and searching around the top of the canopy I finally found it, a lovely sight.
I seemed to be walked quickly and not concentrating, so I decided to take a moment and sit on one of the new beaches along the coast path, the wooden curved bench and back rest was a welcome break. As one of my favourite spots, where I feel encased in nature it is aptly named ‘The Listening Seat’.
A dry-stone wall wraps around me as I admire the lines and patterns of this ancient craft.
I am sat under two Holm Oaks their leaves shading me and adding a gentle calm of rustling as the wind drives through the tree canopy. Its trunk is rough to touch made up of small squares of bark and moss-covered roots.
A leaning Apple tree in front of me has Ivy creeping up its trunk, no leaves or blossom yet but a few buds starting to appear it the end of one branch.
Over the dry-stone wall I can see the smooth bark of a Sycamore tree, following it skywards a gap in the Holm Oaks reveal its opposite buds.
To the left I overlook Durlston Head the incoming waves crash against the protruding rocks. A Peregrine and a Great Black-backed Gull flew past and a Wood Pigeon launched itself from a cliff side tree glided downwards.
The light cloud cover is a subtle shade of grey/blue and a distinct crisp line forming the horizon. To the west the sky and sea merge together, I think rain is on the horizon!
Next to me a puddle of water sits in a divot in a Holm Oak branch the perfect place for a bird to bathe a drink.
The needles on the branches of a Corsican Pine peer through an opening in the dense Holm Oak, Sycamore, Apple and Elm cover.
All around the edge of the dry-stone wall slender stems of Stinking Iris fill the woodland floor and a few orange berries remain.
The other side of the South West Coast Path young Elm stand straight and tall staying in the breeze.
Getting a little chilly I decide to carry on my walk, as I stand the sound and sight of a Goldcrest was a nice end to my morning quiet.
Checking in the hide, it was a hive of bustling activity; Dunnock, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Pheasant, Sparrow, Robin, Magpie, Goldfinch, Blue-tit and Great-tit. This is a great place to bird watch, especially if it is raining!