Some welcome rain this morning – although not especially heavy, it seems to be the particularly damp kind – maybe I should have worn wellies!
Despite the grey skies overhead, the meadows are a riot of colour and form. Bright yellow Ragwort blazes out of the gloom, alongside the imperial purple of Knapweed, light purple Field Scabious and lemon yellow Wild Parsnip.
Giant heads of Wild Carrot and neat white Yarrow heads tower above the canopy of grasses and herbs, where the golden seedpods of Yellow Rattle nestle among pink and white striped Restharrow
Downland plants are also looking especially fine, including giant Woolly Thistles and Burdock at one end of the scale, with tiny Squinancywort, Bastard Toadflax and Eyebright at the other.
As the year turns, hedgerows too are looking increasingly colourful, with green and red Blackberries appearing on Bramble, along with the fruits of Woody Nightshade, Hawthorn, Honeysuckle, and Wayfaring Tree, while at the base of the hedges, the multi-coloured berries of Lords and Ladies and bright orange seeds of Stinking Iris.
Unsurprisingly, given the weather, birds are less evident this morning, with the squawk of a Jay as it bursts out of the woodland just behind me almost making me jump out of my (soggy!) socks! A Green Woodpecker ‘chuckles’ from the woods nearby, with the bubbling calls of Goldfinches, soft cooing of Woodpigeons and ‘cronk’ of a pair of Ravens near the Lighthouse also heard.
At sea, a few Gannets pass by, appearing and disappearing as they cut through the mist, with Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and Shag also seen.
No butterflies on the wing, except in the Gallery, where top butterfly artist Richard Tratt’s exhibition of paintings finishes at the end of today