A grey morning out across the meadows, where the gorgeous fluty song of a Skylark filled the air, this small speckled bird hovering a little above the long grass and flower filled meadows.
Undulating across the skies was a Green Woodpecker a burst of yaffling noise accompanying it. Meanwhile flitting up the hedgerow was a group of Long-tailed Tits, so easy to recognise with their round bodies and long tails.
The meadows are awash with wildflowers, Common Spotted Orchids, Pyramidal Orchids and Wild Carrot galore, scattered in amongst these are Red and White Clover and Hogweed.
More vetches to find include the purples of Tufted Vetch, Bush Vetch and of Lucerne as well as the yellows of Meadow Vetchling, Bird’s Foot Trefoil and Yellow Vetchling and the more twiggy Dyer’s Greenweed.
The huge brown clocks of Goatsbeard contrasting with the green closed spikes of the unopened ones.
Clambering through the grasses was a fully formed instar of a Great Green Bush-Cricket – probably its last stage before adulthood. A Field Grasshopper was also spotted as a was a Dark Bush-cricket.
Fluttering up from the ground was a Painted Lady, followed by two more, the pale colour more noticeable than the black and white corners of their wings.
The white umbels of my favouritely named flower ‘Corky-fruited Water Dropwort’ appearing in amongst the grasses which include Quaking Grass, Yorkshire Fog, Meadow Barley, Tall Fescue and . As I admired these a lovely pale pink Bee Orchid came into my view, while above the wafting line a male Roe Deer was watching me, its rusty orange coat standing out against the green hedge.
Last night I was watching the Guillemot chicks, waiting for them to jump off the ledges into the sea, not to return for at least 3 years. As dusk fell, I saw two of these small black and white birds left and headed off.