Circling around the sky, using the warm air was a Buzzard, a wonderful sight as it passed over my head allowing a good look at the variety of colours on its underside.
As I watched this large bird the scratchy call of a Common Whitethroat was on the airwaves while a group of young recently fledged Whitethroats were chatting to each other, popping up amongst the large leaves of Clematis and Black Bryony.
On the ground a Greater Bloody-nosed Beetle was lumbering while on some of the bright yellow Rough Hawkbit the iridescent green of the Thick-kneed Flower Beetles (Odemera nobilis) caught the attention.
The meadows are a wonderful sight at present with the ‘early summer’ and ‘late spring’ flowers both in bloom. A glorious mixture of colours including the yellow of the tall spikes of Agrimony, Rough Hawkbit, Bird’s Foot Trefoil, Hop Trefoil and Black Medic. Added to this are the mostly white Ox-eye Daisies, Field Bindweed and White Clover and the pinks of the Pyramidal Orchid and Grass Vetchling, plus the purples from Red Bartsia, Greater Knapweed and Tufted Vetch – and that is just some of the flowers to admire!
From above 2 meadows came the sound of Skylarks, their superb song wafting down from above – once again I could not resist the temptation to search for them, eventually finding them against the pale blue.
A few butterflies on the wing with Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites, Small Heath and Large Skipper near the fields while a Red Admiral flew up the drove and Lulworth Skippers were by the coast.
Amongst the numerous grasses a good number of cocoons of the Six-spot Burnet moth can be seen, the papery yellow shape on the stems quite distinctive, as was its yellow and black marked caterpillar wandering across the path.
On the Guillemot ledges the first chicks have now left for the open sea, a few days later than most years, but many more remain, why not pop into the Learning Centre to watch them LIVE on the big screen? – its also quite cool in there!