A perfect summer morning, with just a gentle breeze carrying with it the smell of Marjoram, dry grass, Wild Thyme and the sea.
Already hot by 9am, with a kaleidoscope of butterflies making the most of the warmth, with Lulworth Skippers darting among gently swaying Greater Knapweed along the Diagonal Path, as Walls bask on the hot path below them. Red Admirals weave drunkenly around the fluffy pink flowers of Hemp Agrimony, among clouds of Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns. A Comma skirts the edge of the scrub above the path, with a Holly Blue seen nearby.
On Caravan Terrace, Ringlets flutter among the golden grasses, with Gatekeepers also on the wing. A pair of Large Whites circle each other along the side of Long Meadow (their mating flights can take them up to a kilometre high!).
Plenty of other insects to be seen, with a special delivery of a Great Green Bush Cricket (found on Katie’s bike!) as I write! Southern Hawker and Emperor Dragonflies both on the wing, while hoverflies hang motionless in the air in pools of sunlight in the woods.
The cliffs seem very quiet, now that many of the seabirds have gone, with the shrieks of a Peregrine Falcon echoing round Tilly Whim. A Shag perches on a low rock near the Observation Point as a pair of Rock Pipits skitter across the cliff-face.
Seas of the huge white flower-heads of Wild Carrot sway in the breeze, with stands of yellow-flowered Wild Parsnip also in bloom. Teasels, Burdock, Woolly Thistle, Spear Thistle and Great Knapweed (all purple flowered relatives) are in bloom on the downs.
As young birds start to leave the nests, adults are becoming more visible again. This morning’s bird-ringing study recorded good numbers of Warblers in particular, including Grasshopper Warbler, Garden Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat. A few Swallows pass high overhead (including youngsters, lacking the long tail streamers of the adults).
A pair of Green Woodpeckers (adult and juvenile) pick through an anthill at the side of Long Meadow, with a Buzzard, wheeling in stately spirals above the western meadows.