“To dwellers in a wood almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature. At the passing of the breeze the fir-trees sob and moan no less distinctly than they rock; the holly whistles as it battles with itself; the ash hisses amid its quiverings; the beech rustles while its flat boughs rise and fall”
“Under the Greenwood Tree”, Thomas Hardy
A walk up to work through the woodland to start my day, with a chilly easterly breeze dancing through the treetops and carrying with it the garlic scent of Ramsons, the bitter tang of Nettles and the smell of the sea.
The boughs of Black Pines bob gently on the slopes of Durlston Bay, in front of a glittering blue sea, while my favourite tree, a Horse Chestnut if covered with almost eye-wateringly bight green leaves. A Sallow, covered in fluffy yellow catkins is being visited by Buff-tailed Bumble Bees, as a pair of Grey Squirrels squabble in the canopy overhead and a Speckled Wood butterfly patrols his little patch of dappled shade.
On the woodland floor, Dog Violets, Primroses, Lesser Celandine, Ground Ivy and Dandelions are in full bloom, with fresh leaves of Cow Parsley, Jack-in-the Pulpit and Herb Robert carpeting the woodland floor.
Spring is working it’s magic in the meadows, as Cowslips sweep across the fields in a yellow tide, framed by a white border of Blackthorn blossom and Skylarks hurl their lovely, liquid song into the air.
In the hedgerows, the chorus of birdsong is growing by the day, with the wheezing ‘squeaky bike pump’ song of Great Tits, mingling with the repeated, melancholy phrases of a Song Thrush, the scratchy song of a Whitethroat (my first heard here this year), sweet notes of Blackbirds and excited chatter of Long-tailed Tits.
The downland is dappled with orchids, with hundreds of tiny, furry green and brown Early Spider Orchids in bloom, along the taller, pink flowers of Early Purple Orchids, with black spotted leaves and a few Green-winged Orchids dotted here and there. A huge glossy black Oil Beetle Meloe Proscarabeus plods across the short turf.
Along the cliffs, pink Thrift is just starting to bloom along with white Sea Campion, while below, Guillemots and Razorbills ride the waves as Fulmars carve effortless arcs through the air above them.