A cooler start to the day, with the sun drifting between veils of high cloud, and a gentle northerly breeze, however out of the wind, still feeling very warm in the sunshine.
Several species of butterfly are making the most of the sunshine, with a Common Blue fluttering along above a carpet of Birdsfoot Trefoil and Horseshoe Vetch along the clifftop, a Red Admiral basking on the path nearby, several Small Whites fluttering along like scraps of confetti on the breeze and a Speckled Wood, doggedly defending a sunny patch in the Castle woodland. A Dingy Skipper weaves above the short turf in the Lighthouse Field, as a Wall sunbathes (appropriately enough) on a dry-stone wall at the edge of the field.
Bee Flies, Buff-tailed Bumble Bees, St. Mark’s Flies and Mayflies are also on the wing.
The downland turf is a picture at the moment, with pools of blue Chalk Milkwort, dappled with Eyebright, rusty red Salad Burnet, Early Spider Orchids (now past their best) and Green-winged and Early Purple Orchids.
The fluffy leaves of Mouse Ear form dense patches in some areas, along with the tiny, bizarre Adderstongue Fern.
Even smaller, the pretty Bastard Toadflax (also known by the more descriptive name of Stars in Grass) is starting to bloom – the only British member of the Sandalwood Family!
In the hedgerows, the first purple and yellow flowers of Bittersweet are starting to appear, amid a tangle of the leaves of Old Man’s Beard and Honeysuckle. Sprays of the white flowers of Hawthorn and Wayfaring Tree catch the eye in the Gully, while Horse Chestnut is covered with huge white ‘candlestick’ flowers.
A superb view of 5 Razorbills, socialising on a high open ledge on the cliffs, with Guillemots, Fulmars and Great Black-backed Gull also on the wing. Rock Pipits are displaying from the clifftop, as newly arrived Swallows swoop in off the sea.