Today's weather: A rather hazy, still day warm with an occasional cool breeze.
Having been away for a week I was surprised at the growth of the herb layer. Clearly with the cattle in field ten some grass is shorter there!
Yellow was the colour of most of today’s flowers as follows: Yellow Rattle; Creeping Buttercup; Horseshoe Vetch; Kidney Vetch; Birds foot Trefoil, however, despite its name Yellow Wort has yet to flower! Other delights included yellow and white Eyebright, Pink Clover and the pale pink / plum of the climbing Tufted Vetch. Oxeye Daisy, Stinking Iris, Thrift and even Honey Suckle were also present. The hay fever sufferers might be away that there is plenty of grass and plantain pollen about! I noted a sycamore within the gully appeared to be in flower and some of the Stinging Nettles are setting pollen.
Three delightful Painted Ladies were observed upon the wing along with some eight as yet unidentified Blue Butterflies.
I spent some time trying to identify the birds around the gully scrub. A scratchy call was halted upon the sound of a passing motor boat. Simultaneously a Sika doe grazed within the sward just above the gully tree line inland of the Lighthouse. Unsurprisingly it stood frozen for some time only moving its head. Eventually she moved on and grazed in the sward.
Clearly I heard Chiff Chaff, Chaffinch and Skylark as usual. Fortunately, I saw both Whitethroat and Chiff Chaff taking food to young on the nest. Upon the overhead telephone lines sat one Goldfinch and a Greenfinch both preening. Usual Woodpigeon, Black Birds and some three Carrion Crow and a dozen Jackdaws were on the wing.