Headed down the clifftop the full expanse of sunshine is revealed, alighting a calm blue sea. Not a breath of wind blew here yesterday, I was lucky enough to be out on a boat where it was perfectly silent. We could just sit and wait to hear the splashes from the breaching Bluefin Tuna as they hunt and drive their prey to the surface.
A lovely hum of Ivy Bees is found further along the trail, where a patch of bare dry earth offers the perfect habitat for them to dig a burrow for a nest. Interestingly although they are solitary bees (each building their own nest), they often nest close together in the same location, forming swarms of thousands of bees.
As their name suggests, their emergence is timed with that of the Ivy blossom (their main food source), making them one of the last solitary bees to emerge in the season. They are also a new introduction to the Britain, first found on our island just 15 years ago, in 2001.
In September our hedgerows offer a bounty of fruit ready to harvest: Crimson-red Rosehips and Haws, blue Sloeberries, and the Blackberries, and Dogwood fruit. Wall Brown butterfly on the wing.
Holm Oaks have began dropping some acorns though I can’t find any below the English Oak. Grey squirrel can be heard scampering through the branches and collecting these as a tasty snack, whilst the Jays will no doubt be collecting them to, spreading their seeds as they bury them for keeping and later forget where they put them.
The usual dawn chorus of Chiffchaff, Robin, and Great Tit, is joined by that of the Meadow Pipits. Robins most vocal of all as they communicate across the canopy. Most incredible are the gathering of Swallows which make their way South for their autumn migration.