An almost still, silent morning, with the gentlest of breezes whispering through the dry grasses in the meadows, and the lovely, lyrical song of Skylarks the loudest sound to be heard.
Despite the lack of sunshine, plenty of insects are already on the wing, including Six-spot Burnet Moths galore – their striking red and black wings blurring into pink as they whir from flower to flower. Also on the wing, Marbled Whites, drifting among the taller plants, with a Buff-tailed Bumble Bee crawling across a dense patch of Wild Thyme.
The downland is looking increasingly colourful as summer draws on, with dusty-looking Red Bartsia starting to appear along the path edges, the magnificent, intricate flower heads of Woolly Thistle (the fearsome prickles arranged according to the Fibonacci Sequence – this being the most efficient way of fitting the maximum spikiness into the smallest possible space), with Centaury starting to appear on the shorter turf. Shiny black Bloody-nose Beetles munch their way through Lady’s Bedstraw, with shiny green Thick-kneed Flower Beetles nestling in the heads of Rough Hawkbit.
New plants are also starting to appear in the meadows, including Greater Knapweed, pale purple Field Scabious and Wild Parsnip, while thousands of Common Spotted and Pyramidal Orchids make a glorious, colourful scene.
In the hedgerows, Hawthorn is now covered with berries, beneath a network of Bryony and the purple and yellow flowers of Bittersweet. Woundwort nestles at the foot of the hedge, along with Self-heal and the glossy green leaves of Stinking Iris.
A large cloud of House Martins swirl above Tasker’s Meadow, with a Kestrel out hunting above the Lighthouse Field and a Peregrine along the cliffs.
A Roe Deer munches contentedly in a glade on the Gully slopes.