‘Tick, tick, tick’ comes from the tree tops to yonder side of assorted bushes. The park was awash with the ticks, the sound of Robin’s producing their alarm calls. The one calling near the car park rotated on its perch as it carefully scrutinised my arrival.
Heading across the meadows, the side of the rides still contain some fantastic colours. There’s the lilac of Field Scabious, the thick purple of Knapweed, the deeper yellow stalks of Agrimony. The red berries of Hawthorn and Byrony add dots of spherical colour blasts alongside the now plumper and ripening purple of Sloe, the fruit of the Blackthorn and a great addition to Gin, so I am told! Walking into Boys Brigade and a Gatekeeper plummets out of the sky and flops onto the ground in front of me. I stoop to give it a blow, see whether I had just witnessed the demise of a butterfly, but thankfully it flaps its wings and ambles on in its travels. I am sure there must be some ancient myth about witnessing the death of something so beautiful!
The Wooly Thistle I saw in Saxon Field looked dry and brown, its wonderful rounded heads have limped and tipped, bowing to the ground. Nearby a Carline Thistle shines gold from its low position on the ground. Above, in the distance over the neighbouring quarries a paraglider motors along, its engine attracting my attention. I spend some time watching with my binoculars, wondering if I would ever have the nerve to put so much faith into a motor and a parachute. Out to sea the powerful engines of local fishing boats head out with the Bank Holiday anglers.
Down by the Lighthouse there were 4 Wheatear, strutting and shimmering, standing tall and proud as they hopped along, occasionally grouping together before fanning out again. A truly elegant little bird. Katie also saw over 20 in the meadows on her morning walk and reports just in from Ali that the first Autumn Ladies Tresses are out near the quarries. A quick check on the birdringers brought the news of 3 Redstart, 3 Pied and 3 Yellow Wagtail, 7 Tree Pipits as well as many Whitethroat had been caught and rung.