What a turnaround this morning – from arriving to bright blue skies and warm sunshine, to now having a strong breeze and a totally overcast sky!
So trundling along on my morning rounds, I first of all came across a handsome plump Robin, from his rather territorial actions I thought there may possibly be another brood of chicks following on from the first nest I found two months ago. From this nest all four chicks fledged, and one egg that hadn’t hatched was left behind.
Making my way down past the Castle I took a moment to see if the Wall Lizard I snapped yesterday was still present, but no sign this morning. However a Grayling butterfly then flitted past, as well as several small Crickets that were too quick for me to ID.
Along the coast path the usual assortment of avian life was to be noted – Greater Black-backed and Herring Gulls, Shags, Pigeons, Rock Pipits and the ubiquitous Jackdaws.
I then noted a particularly large Garden Spider on its web in the Gorse, no doubt awaiting a tasty snack to become entangled in its web. Above the Gorse I also noted a pair of Great Tits, and heard the distinctive ‘clacking’ of a Wood Pigeon taking off. Not wanting to ignore my invertebrate friends, I came across a Bloody-nosed Beetle, a brilliantly bronze-coloured Chyrsolina banksi beetle, two species of Ant and three species of Bumblebee including the Red-tailed. I thought I noted a Honey bee Apis mellifera but this turned out to be an excellent Hoverfly mimic.
Other than a yaffling Green Woodpecker and Greenfinch there was not much else to report on the stroll back to base, however I did have the moth trap set up at the castle last night so can report from a quick scan plenty of Magpies, Clays, Black Arches, a Large Fruit-Tree Tortrix and the excellently camouflaged Chinese Character ‘Bird poop’.
Today's diary written by Mike