It’s damp and blustery across the meadows this morning with tall yellowed strands of grass swaying back and forth in the wind. South Field is scattered with white, purple, and yellow flowers. At first it appears mostly Wild Carrot, Knapweed and Ragwort, but a closer inspection reveals a variety of different flowers through the colour spectrum; from Red Clover and Bartsia, Scabious and Pale Flax, to Agrimony and a brilliant yellow carpet of Lesser Trefoil.
I wander towards the pond which still looks very low, even with the heavy downpour of 19mm overnight. It’s pretty quiet with just a few Pond Skaters floating by the Reeds. Some Gatekeeper butterflies dance along the hedges and I hear the tinkling of Goldfinch, as I notice a Roesel’s Bush-cricket hopping through the grass.
I walk towards the Lighthouse, and stop to admire some impressive Woolly Thistles standing nearly 2m tall. Their big round flowers resembling some sort of purple anemone and enjoyed by a soggy-looking worker Bumblebee and a Cardinal Beetle.
A pair of Kestrels hover above the Mile Markers, before a choppy sea. That’s said, calmer than yesterday with winds gusting 41mph overnight. The two raptors end up in a disagreement with a pair of Crows and the four birds swoop and soar in flight as they bicker with each other.
Just one sailing yacht and the dive boat on the water today. A big change from yesterday evening when 450 boats sailed past Durlston head for the annual Fastnet Race from Cowes. It was impressive to see these massive sailing yachts passing at impressive speed in awful weather; and now to think the first boats have already reached Fastnet Rock off Ireland this morning.
It’s much quieter along the cliffs without the trilling of Guillemots and Razorbills, and I see just I see a few Shags, Herring Gulls and Greater Black-backed Gulls on the water and perched upon rocky outcrops. A couple Rock Pipits also hop along the path ahead of me.