A pleasant westerly breeze stirs the grasses in the meadows as I walk into work, carrying with it the summer scents of Wild Thyme, dry grasses, the bitter tang of Bracken and the lovely ‘honey’ scent of Ladies Bedstraw, along with the ever present smell of the sea.
Dark pink Pyramidal Orchids stand out among the soft bronze and gold of the grasses, with the last of the Common Spotted Orchids tinged with brown as they prepare to release countless thousands of seeds to the wind.
The huge, domed, pink-tinged flowerheads of Wild Carrot provide a perfect place for little red and black Soldier Beetles to mate, with many metallic green Thick-kneed Flower Beetles also seen, with one looking magnificent, perched in the centre of the golden flower of Rough Hawkbit.
Butterflies are ‘powering up’ as the sun warms the air, with Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers fluttering along the hedgerows, where the first flower-buds of Bramble are starting to appear, among the hard, shiny berries of Wayfaring Tree and the strings of green Bryony berries.
Along the cliffs, Lulworth Skippers weave among the clifftop grasses, where the unusual ‘dusty’ yellow flowers of Ploughman’s Spikenard are starting to emerge, above a carpet of Red Bartsia, Hedge Bedstraw and Birdsfoot Trefoil.
The ledges are looking much more empty, as Guillemots start to return to sea as the chicks leave. Many are still gathered on the water though, along with several pairs of blacker Razorbills. As I watched, a Shag, bobbing on the water is disturbed by a Cormorant landing right next to it, before both birds disappeared under the water together,
Some fantastic moth traps over the last few days, with species including Pine Hawkmoth, Elephant Hawkmoth, Small Magpie, Crescent Dart, Blue-bordered Carpet and Madder Pearl among many others, with the large, attractive hoverfly Volucella zonaria (a Hornet mimic) seen on the Buddleia near the Castle while our volunteer Sylvia went through the trap yesterday.