During the night with an enormous clap of thunder and a flash of brilliant lightning came heavy rain, 7.1mm of it powering down. In some places as it hit the path, the water has produced a gulley to allow it to run away, in other places it is slowly seeping through the soil.
From a patch of sloe covered Blackthorn came the tapping call of a Stonechat, bobbing up and down as it called, this one’s chest a dull orange. The numerous sloes on this section of scrub a cloudy purple.
The blackberries are now fattening up, making a tastier snack, but there edibility can be seen in the piles of bird and mammal poo scattered around the place – the purple stain a tell-tale indication.
In the clambering Bramble a small bird swayed, on closer inspection, the shape and markings of a Cirl Bunting could be made out before it disappeared deeper into the prickly mass.
From amongst the (still) brown grass, a flash of brilliant blue, turned my attention down to see the stunning turquoise Adonis Blue butterfly, this male such a bright colour and quite different from the similar shaped and sized Common Blue which was a lilac colour, also moving in the similar area.
A couple of Meadow Brown butterflies plus a Small Heath added to the insect list that included the Greater Bloody-nose Beetle and a Great Green Bush-cricket which was amongst the leaves of the Hemp Agrimony, hiding very well, as it took me ages to find it!.
Overhead a small number of Swallows whizzing eastwards, alongside a few Sand Martins who had a dark collar on the underside of their necks – something to identify from the underneath!
A couple of patches of purple flower, together allowed a great opportunity to see the differences between the two species of Greater Knapweed and Black Knapweed. The leaves are particularly different in both shape and position.