Off to the meadows this morning for a change, and they are looking glorious a swathe of delicate pale blue from the Pale Flax, the petals open and the flowers mostly turned towards the south east as the sun rose.
In amongst this beauty were masses of yellow flowers, with both Bulbous and Meadow Buttercups providing a golden colour off their slightly waxy leaves, while the paler Yellow Rattle is just beginning in earnest and the Cowslips all going over. As more ground cover the Lesser Trefoil as more depth just as our biggest grass Tall Fescue adds height to the view.
Slowly crawling across the grass heading towards a patch of Goosegrass, which now has tiny white flowers, was the iridescent dark green blob larva of a Greater Bloody-nose Beetle, this a fascinating creature to watch.
Hovering high above the meadows was a Skylark, the wonderful song flowing down, another Skylark then rose into the sky and joined in to make a louder chorus.
From the tops of a Elder, the flowers of which are now in full bloom, a Common Whitethroat added its scratchy rattling voice to the songfest as a Great Tit ‘see-saw-ed’ nearby and a Song Thrush also produced a wonderful tune.
On the downs patches of deep purple from Wild Clary, this tall plant easy to spot while one the ground the Chalk Milkwort also a deep blue colour and the off-white Eyebright are complementing with the yellow Horseshoe Vetch.
Two Wall Brown butterflies basking, as their name suggests on a wall, a poorly named Dingy Skipper (they aren’t that dingy on close inspection) and some brilliant blue Adonis Blues all spotted as was a Speckled Wood and a Small Blue. The highlight though was a Green Hairstreak, as flash of brilliant reflective green perched on the spike of a Gorse.
Fluttering and then hovering was a Stonechat, before he landed on the Hawthorn, while near the centre a House Sparrow was carrying food, hopefully to its young. Pop into the Castle to see the chicks of Great Tits and Blue Tits via out cameras.