After the rain of the early morning – 8mm – more than the whole of June!!. A few puddles and the leaf laden branches of trees and bushes sagging under the weight of the drips. The pale cream flowers of Privet mixing with the pale pink Bramble. Clinging to the stems were a few Gatekeeper butterflies, the undersides of the wings covered in delicate markings, easy to see as the weather not yet ideal for them to fly today.
Also spotted was an Essex Skipper, identification of this species requires the underside of the antennae to be seen, they are orange compared with the black one of the Small Skipper – much easier as they too were not flying.
From the Horse Chestnut came the song of a Wren, the sound blasting out as the loudest in the woods, the Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Dunnock were not as loud.
The damper ground encouraging the snails out, 15 counted within 3 steps, including Garden Snail, Wall Snail and White-lipped Snail.
The activity on the cliffs is dying down as the seabird get towards the end of their breeding period, on the water 53 Guillemots with 7 Razorbills scattered amongst. The close-up cliff camera is focussed on the last remaining Guillemots and their chicks – they are particularly vulnerable at this stage to predation from Ravens (and also Herring Gulls) both of whom are after an easy meal.
Last night’s Buck Moon was a ball of orange as I took a stroll to see and count some Glow-worms – after walking just a few metres along the transect route – 3 of these amazing green lights were showing on the edge of the grassy path – captivating to see, but I was also drawn to watch the flitting action of the Pipistrelle Bats as I did the silent shape of a Tawny Owl flew by.
Prior to the sun setting the sky was filled with Swifts zipping around, the pulled back wings and black colour make these easy to separate from Swallows.