The thick grey clouds providing a slight dampness to the air as I took my early patrol. Out to the meadows where a Kestrel was hovering just above the selection of grasses and wildflowers, most of which have now gone to seed and are ready to be cut for hay.
Lots of bright yellow Fleabane and Ragwort flower, both providing a good nectar source for insects, as are the huge purple flowers of the Woolly Thistle (many of which are now fading) and the dull pink ones of Hemp Agrimony.
A Common Whitethroat flitted across, landing amongst the blackberry laden Bramble, while a Wood Pigeon was busy feasting on the small black Elder berries. A burst of sound rattling and trilling, could only be a Wren (despite my attempts to turn it into a reeling Grasshopper Warbler as it migrates its way south).
The downland is still as mass of small flowers including the blues of Small Scabious and Field Scabious, the purples of Selfheal and Wild Thyme and the yellows of Lady’s Bedstraw and Bird’s-foot Trefoil.
The odd golden brown flower of Carline Thistle so different from the Dwarf Thistle alongside. While the exquisite spiral flowers of Autumn Ladies Tresses stand out – once you get the eye in!!
A patch of Bastard Toadflax, with lovely delicate white flowers (its other name is Stars in the Grass), encouraged me to search (in vain today, but spotted yesterday) for the Down Shield Bug which lives on the Toadflax.
A great view of a Fox trotting along the ridge, its tail tipped by a white brush, after a short while it disappeared over the top and headed down the slope towards the coast. Behind me, down in the fields two Roe Deer were browsing.
The herd of Hereford Cattle mostly to be seen lying amongst the grasses chewing the cud or snoozing, these herbivores are a vital part of the management of this National Nature Reserve, keeping areas of short, enabling flowers to flourish and opening up the ground for insects and other invertebrates.