A damp morning with the drizzle being blown strongly sideways by the westerly wind. This causing my binoculars to have a covering of water across the lenses making it difficult to see anything!
A sudden explosion of noise from the copse and two birds emerged, both making a loud yaffle and both flying in an undulating way – both characteristics of Green Woodpeckers, so my binoculars weren’t needed.
Flying overhead in batches it seemed were Swallow, groups of twenty to thirty swooping by, followed alter by another and then another flock.
The occasional additional bird sound heard with Meadow Pipits, almost a piping call, and from the bushes the contact calls of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs.
As I walked along one of the footpaths suddenly there were 50 Slugs sliming across, these all within a 4 metre long stretch, mostly they were Arion hortensis and Arion Ater.
Looking, as I was at the ground I spotted a single Greater Bloody-nosed Beetle in the long grass next to a Field Grasshopper. A couple of moths sheltering from the light and weather included Lunar Underwing and Feathered Brindle.
Still some flowers to enjoy – mostly a bit bedraggled first thing, but the purple heads of Greater Knapweed are still showing, as are the silvery disks of the flower heads which are now over. The yellow flowers of Bristley Ox-tongue and the white umbel of Wild Carrot add more splashes of colour. The freshest looking flower spotted today was the two tone yellow ‘snapdragon’ flowers of the Common Toadflax, especially near the old quarry working.
A wonderful chain of bright red berries of the Black Bryony was entwined across the berry laden Hawthorn and Elder bushes near the Castle.