A breezy start to the day, with a few spots of rain, though some patches of blue sky started to appear, as I made my way around the clifftop.
Down in the woods, spring has painted the woodland floor with colour, with constellations of golden Lesser Celandine start to unfold their petals to greet the emerging sun. Around them, the first white, fluffy flowers of Ramsons are starting to appear from a dense carpet of garlic-scented green leaves.
Several varieties of Daffodil are scattered around the Aviary Glade, where fresh green Cleavers weaves it’s way through the undergrowth.
Hazels are covered in leaf buds, while Elms are looking fantastic at the moment, dressed in vivid green leaves. The huge leaves of Horse Chestnut are emerging from their sticky buds, while Blackthorn bushes are now almost invisible under a thick layer of sweet-scented blossom.
Birdsong echoes among the trees, with the sweet, repeated melodies of Song Thrushes, the ‘ragtime’ jangle of Dunnocks, insistent notes of Robin among the growing chorus.
A Magpie flaps across the path in front of me, carrying a beak full of twigs up to the canopy of a Black Pine.
The cliffs are also feeling very springy, with Fulmars carving their way through the gusts on stiff, flat wings, as Shags flap by, just above the surface of the water and Herring Gull and Great Black-backed Gull circle. A few Guillemots and Razorbills flicker by, or bob on the water off Durlston Head, though the ledges are empty this morning.
A Raven waddles across the ledge at Tilly Whim, with a Rock Pipit, struggling to keep it’s footing in the wind just over the clifftop wall.
A Roe Deer grazes just outside the window as I write, before bounding off into the bushes.