Quite windy this morning, though not as breezy as last night when a maximum gust of 50mph was recorded at our weather station. The high winds have left a sprinkling of broken tree branches, twigs, leaves, and pine cones along the woodland trails. Fortunately my morning tree inspection revealed that all of the bigger branches had survived the night.
Spring is certainly on show amongst the woodlands ground cover: Fresh green leaves of Wild Arun, Goosegrass, Three-cornered Leek, and Nettle sprout and sprawl amongst a scattering of colour; yellow Celandines, pink Herb Robert, and white Hedge Mustard. Bluebells are in full bloom throughout the woodland, some blue, some white, some pink! They are mostly the non-native Spanish or Hybrid varieties, but very pretty nonetheless. In some spots the flowering stems reach well over a good 18” tall!
My ramble takes me into the lower woodland viewpoint near the aviaries that overlooks a great Black Pine. It stands in the foreground of Durlston Bay, framed perfectly by the surrounding Holm Oaks. As I’m watching the waves roll into the shore, I notice a dark conical-shaped buoy bobbing in the surf. It dips under the water a few times before rolling onto its back and revealing itself as an Atlantic Grey Seal.
At the Dell, a group of chatty Goldfinches chirp as they hop between the branches of a Sycamore tree. Somewhere amongst them, a Blackcap can also be heard singing. Further along above the rock face I can hear the characteristic two-tone call of a Chiffchaff and melodic tunes of a Blue Tit.