Purbeck Footprints Wildlife Photography Walk

On Sunday I took a cracking group of people around Durlston Country Park taking in the wonderful scenery and enjoying what nature had in store for us. After a brief introduction we worked our way around the north side of the castle which gives us one of my favourite views, across Durlston and Swanage bays to Old Harry and on to Bournemouth in the distance.

Just as we wandered down towards the cliffs the Coastguard helicopter was seen flying towards one of the busy dive boats. This generally means an excersise or, as in this case, the airlift of a diver from the boat to the helicopter and then off to the decompression chamber at nearby Poole. Apart from wondering at the great skill of the coastguard team, it is good to give a moments thought to the unfortunate diver and wish him well. He is in safe hands.

I had walked the cliffs earleir that morning and, within the space of half an hour, had seen a female Kestrel with two youngsters, a female Peregrine with two youngsters and a Sparrowhawk being chesed by a very persistant youngster. Not bad for a quick mornings walk.
We saw the Kestrels and Sparrowhawks on our walk later but the Peregrines were not to be seen.

After moving inland, butterflies and crickets were on the menu and they are always great fun to photograph.
More walks are planned for the Autumn and i am hoping to do much more at Durlston next year. Keep an eye open for more details.