A flutter of soft red wings fly past me. The colour disappears as it settles on the ground hidden behind cream and brown striped wings of a Jersey Tiger: whose beautiful bright undersides are only revealed in flight.
It’s a calm bright start to the day with the warm morning sun already beating down upon the park. Red Admirals bask upon the sunlit walls and flutter to and from the flowering Buddleia.
The Damson and Apple appear to have dropped their fruit, and so their branches are raised back up towards the sky. An adventurous Yellow-lipped Snail has crawled all the way to the very tip of one of these branches.
Common Carder Bees, and a Speckled Wood dance around the pink fluffy Hemp-Agrimony flowers and sunny faces of Fleabane. A loud buzz culminates in silence as a large Garden Bumbleebee comes into land.
As I approach the Dell, I’m listening to a medley of bird song; with high pitched tunes from Robin, Wren, and Blue Tit, whilst lower churrs can be heard from the Great Tit and docile sounds from a Blackbird and distant Woodpigeons.
One of the Blue Tits hangs upside-down on the Bramble whilst investigating the ripening Blackberries. Bright red berries also adorn the entanglement of Honeysuckle, and green fruits have begun to form along the intertwining Bryony.
I descend the slope towards Durlston Head, spying a Painted Lady as it passes the stunning display of fiery Montbretia.
Next, I follow a Humming-bird Hawkmoth who’s tiny wings move so quickly, it is able to hover its body perfectly still to feed on nectar in flight. I’m also briefly joined by a beast of an insect; the Emperor Dragonfly – our largest species found in the U.K. which has a stunning blue body and green head.