After a few wet and windy mornings, this morning feels unusually calm, with a gentle north-easterly breeze stirring the warm and humid air, carrying with it the scents of Bracken, wet grass, Bramble and the sea.
Despite the lack of sunshine, the warmth means that many butterflies are already on the wing, with Red Admirals feeding on a patch of Hemp Agrimony in a woodland glade, with Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers fluttering around a Buddleia, whose scent hangs thickly in the still air. Speckled Woods dog-fight lazily above the path, with a pair of Swifts circling above Durlston Bay.
Beneath the gloom of the dense, late summer canopy, plenty of colour from yellow Ragwort and Fleabane, pink and white Hydrangeas (and ‘Fifty Shades of Green’ (at least!) among the canopy and shrubs).
In the hedgerows, autumn fruits are starting to appear, from hard green and red Blackberries, to glossy ropes of green Bryony berries. Rolling waves of Old Man’s Beard roll across the scrub, covered in yellow-green flowers, while on the verges at the field edge, pink flowered Greater Willowherb, Teasel and Woolly Thistle are as tall as me!
In the meadows, purple Knapweed, white Wild Carrot and lilac Field Scabious sway gently, while below them, pink and white striped Restharrow tangles around their stems. Many of the paths are bordered with ‘dusty’ pink Red Bartsia, with yellow Ladies Bedstraw, Wild Parsnip and Wild Thyme also in bloom.
The keening of a Kestrel rings out across the Lighthouse Field, with the harsh shrieks of a Peregrine Falcon echoing along the cliffs. Goldfinches and Long-tailed Tits are starting to gather into larger flocks, as they feed on the array of seeds along the top of the Lighthouse Field.
Much quieter along the cliffs, with a gaggle of tawny young Shags gathered on a rocky outcrop, observed by a Great Black-backed Gull, while at sea, a pair of gleaming white Gannets cruise by.
A few Swallows whirl overhead, as they feed on the plentiful gnats and flies.