An idyllic summer morning, with clear blue skies and just the gentlest whisper of a breeze rustling through the grasses in the meadows.
The Park is full of things which flutter and hop – close your eyes in the meadows and the calls of Field and Meadow Grasshoppers become a roar! A magnificent female Great Green Bush Cricket spotted climbing the stem of a Field Scabious flower, with Speckled Bush Cricket also seen on the Diagonal Path.
Red and black Soldier Beetles galore – in particular, many mating pairs can be seen on the flowers of Wild Carrot – like many other insects, the female is considerably larger than the male. Beautiful green Thick-kneed Flower Beetles nestle in the flower-heads of dark purple Knapweed, like tiny jewels, with several large black Bloody-nose Beetles also seen.
Thousands of red and black Six-spot Burnet Moths whir among the flowers in the meadows – the bright sunshine catching the greenish iridescence of their wings, with Marbled Whites, Large, Small and Lulworth Skippers, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Red Admirals, Peacocks, a Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Wall all seen on the wing this morning. Near the Centre, a Common Darter Dragonfly whizzes past in a flash of crimson.
Stepping into the Drove, a Song Thrush darts off the path at the far end as she sees me approach, with the evidence of her breakfast – 8 broken Garden Snail shells scattered along the path!
A fantastic variety of plants in bloom, with Rough Hawkbit, Wild Parsnip, Woolly Thistle, Hedge and Lady’s Bedstraw, Centuary, Yellow-wort, Pyramidal Orchid, Greater Knapweed, Yarrow and Selfheal to name just a few.
Still a few Guillemots left on the ledges – any day now they will be heading back to see for the winter, so pop into the Learning Centre to see them on the camera, or take a stroll along the Clifftop Trail.