A very autumnal feel to the early rounds today, with rain pattering onto the canopy of yellow and green leaves as I walked up through the woodland and a grey sea splashing into the cliffs in Durlston Bay.
As I stopped to ‘Rest and Admire’ a pair of Gannets pass across Durlston Bay, gleaming white against the steely sea, with a Shag flapping ponderously by closer to shore.
Puffy black Dead Man’s Fingers are starting to appear on the logs edging some the woodland paths, with a purple-capped Boletus fungus (probably Lurid Bolete) pushing through the path at the edge of the Timeline.
Along the clifftop, a few splashes of late colour from mauve and yellow Sea Aster and Golden Samphire, along with a few flowers of Ragwort. Less colourful, but still providing a late nectar source for bees and butterflies, Ivy flowers are starting to open.
The hedges and scrub are filled with a bounty of fruits and berries, from the glossy ‘strings of beads’ of Bryony, to Blackberries, still in shades of vivid green to midnight blue and the tiny round green fruits of Madder.
Nice to see our newly planted Crab Apple in the ‘Dell’ covered in fruit, with the various cultivated Apple trees around the Park (grown from discarded apple cores!) also in fruit.
Overhead, Swallows are gathering into larger groups, careening wildly around the clifftop, with charms of Goldfinches bustling around Teasel and Woolly Thistle heads.
A very productive moth trap last night, with 42 species recorded. By far the most numerous, 60 Large Yellow Underwings, with 20 Flounced Rustics, 15 Square Spot Rustic, 15 Angle Shades and 10 Turnips. Highlights included 2 Convolvulus Hawk Moths, 2 Kent Black Arches, 6 Delicates, Wormwood Pug and the appropriately named Snout, to pick out just a few!
A very autumnal feel to the early rounds today, with rain pattering onto the canopy of yellow and green leaves as I walked up through the woodland and a grey sea splashing into the cliffs in Durlston Bay.
As I stopped to ‘Rest and Admire’ a pair of Gannets pass across Durlston Bay, gleaming white against the steely sea, with a Shag flapping ponderously by closer to shore.
Puffy black Dead Man’s Fingers are starting to appear on the logs edging some the woodland paths, with a purple-capped Boletus fungus (probably Lurid Bolete) pushing through the path at the edge of the Timeline.
Along the clifftop, a few splashes of late colour from mauve and yellow Sea Aster and Golden Samphire, along with a few flowers of Ragwort. Less colourful, but still providing a late nectar source for bees and butterflies, Ivy flowers are starting to open.
The hedges and scrub are filled with a bounty of fruits and berries, from the glossy ‘strings of beads’ of Bryony, to Blackberries, still in shades of vivid green to midnight blue and the tiny round green fruits of Madder.
Nice to see our newly planted Crab Apple in the ‘Dell’ covered in fruit, with the various cultivated Apple trees around the Park (grown from discarded apple cores!) also in fruit.
Overhead, Swallows are gathering into larger groups, careening wildly around the clifftop, with charms of Goldfinches bustling around Teasel and Woolly Thistle heads.
A very productive moth trap last night, with 42 species recorded. By far the most numerous, 60 Large Yellow Underwings, with 20 Flounced Rustics, 15 Square Spot Rustic, 15 Angle Shades and 10 Turnips. Highlights included 2 Convolvulus Hawk Moths, 2 Kent Black Arches, 6 Delicates, Wormwood Pug and the appropriately named Snout, to pick out just a few!