Patches of blue sky and beaming sunshine welcomed me to my early walk. As I wandered down Long Meadow the sound of Blue Tits and of Chaffinches sung out along side the sound of the wind as it whipped through the branches at 40mph or so.
Lots of leaves beginning to unfurl including the serrated edged Elms, the soft downy Hazels and the three-lobed Hawthorn – each a different shade of green.
Down in the woods a faint aroma of onion and garlic from the leaves of 3-Cornered Leek and from Ramsons. Nearby the tall stems and bright yellow trumpets of Daffodils and the delicate pale pink blossom of the Winter Flowering Cherry.
As I put up the final parts of our Easter Egg trail, I noticed, scattered in the grassy glade clumps of Primroses, some a delicate shade of yellow, another almost white.
The repetitive song of a Chiffchaff made me look up into the Black Pine, and after a while the drab brownish bird was spotted, but my attention soon taken by a Buzzard as it took flight, long fingered wings, floating on the air as it headed off over the landslips of Durlston Bay.
A tentative look at the coastal slopes, and once again, a little more of the land has tumbled towards the sea, but for now well away from the path (which is not the case on a number of sections of the Coast Path between Studland and Lulworth, where we have put in diversions away from the edge).
A splash of bright red from the berries of Cherry Laurel, upon which a Wren was perched, tail erect as it blasted its loud rattling song out.
Returning along the cliffs, just one single Guillemot to see, amongst the churning and white crests of the sea. The water crashing against the rocks, salty spray pouring up and over.
The Fulmars and Herring Gulls taking advantage of the wind, as were two huge black Ravens.