With a thick grey cloud cover greeting my early patrol, I headed for the meadows to have a look at the wonderful variety of flowers.
The Bulbous Buttercups and the Meadow Buttercups were waving amongst the Tall Fescue and Quaking Grass, with the delicate blue of Pale Flax and the various pinks of Common Spotted Orchid and of Southern Marsh Orchid adding a greater variety of colours, which even under the damp grey clouds look magnificent.
A few clumps of Comfrey and a single Bee Orchid also noted amongst the masses of dark yellow Bird’s-foot Trefoil, pale red of Red Clover and the smaller round heads of Black Medic.
Hovering overhead was a Kestrel, hopefully catching breakfast for a nest of young chicks, while there was a constant sound of a Skylark singing beautifully from way up high – to help these ground nesting birds please keep to the footpaths around the edges of the fields as this reduces disturbance to them.
Swooping past my ears were 2 Swallows, deep blue in colour as they speeded past. From behind me came the kerfuffle of two Wood Pigeons as they took flight, the sudden commotion disturbing a Green Woodpecker who took off with a ‘yaffle’
The Corky-fruited Water Dropwort – one of my favourite flower names – is appearing in the fields as is Hogweed, Sainfoin and Hay Rattle, many of these plants draped in blobs of frothy Cuckoo Spit, inside of each a Froghopper is developing.
On the cliffs the Guillemot eggs are now hatching and the small black and white chicks are starting to show as I search with the cliff camera. Through this 2 Great Black-backed Gull chicks have been spotted along with 7 Razorbills on their breeding spots.
The sound of Common Whitethroat competes with Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Linnet and Goldfinch for air time, while bursts of sound from Blackbirds, Great Tit and Blackcap add to the soundscape.