A bit of a strange start, as there were clouds in the sky!! And zooming across were a number of Swallows, the longish tails showing well as they flitted above me, flashes of deep blue along with the pale underneath also visible when I got a close enough view.
Along the cliff tops where the parkrun was being set up by a number of regular volunteers and a few groups of charity walkers headed westwards. A movement on the surface of the water and a black shape popped up, the head of a Grey Seal swivelled, allowing good vies of the shape of its nose, bobbed for a few moments before dropping again and disappearing! Despite hanging around for some time this was the only glimpse I saw.
Echoing across the skies was the high-pitched calling of Peregrine Falcons, spotted every now and then as they tore and soared overhead.
A wonderful display of Wild Carrot on the limestone banks, visible in the centre of most of the white heads a small clump of deep red. In amongst this mass the deep purple of the Greater Knapweed flowers and the paler purple of Marjoram and the yellowy-green of Wood Sage.
Looking again and Yarrow with its soft frondy leaves and the taller yellow Wild Parsnip also noted.
Lots of butterflies to find, including the Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown, both of which have two different colours of brown on their wings, easy to tell when perched – more difficult in flight! However the Marbled White makes up for this with its black and white wing colour.
The chatting of Stonechats was coming for the Gorse and I watched family of Common Whitethroats fluttering between he twigs of A Wayfaring Tree. A short glimpse of a Cirl Bunting added to my interest, but again despite waiting not seen again.
A quick check of the Moth Trap and a fantastic Jersey Tiger took pride of place, the black and yellowy-white stripes covering the red body. Others included; Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow-underwing, Grey Dagger, The Spectacled and the Drinker.