A much cooler start to the day, with a blanket of dense cloud overhead and a pleasant north-easterly breeze.
Without the sun, not so many butterflies on the wing yet, but still plenty of dark brown and orange Meadow Browns, neatly patterned black and white Marbled Whites, Fox-coloured Small Skippers, whirring among the grasses and a Painted Lady fluttering across the Car Parks.
Also on the wing, several Six-spot Burnet Moths – crimson and black – a warning colouration, as they synthesis cyanide from the plants they eat (apparently sufficient to give them an unpleasantly bitter taste!).
No moth trap last night, but a truly spectacular haul the night before – in fact our volunteer Sylvia, having intended to finish the ‘Meet a Moth’ event at 11 eventually left after 1 (still leaving some uncounted!). Highlights included more than 1,000 Large Yellow Underwings, 6 huge pink, black and white Privet Hawk Moths, Large and Small Elephant Hawk Moths, Peach Blossom, Scalloped Hooktip and Rosy Footman to name just a few. My favourite, a stunning Burnished Brass (which looks just like the name suggests and even ‘tarnishes’ as it gets older!).
The downland is looking splendid at the moment, covered in the yellow spikes of Agrimony, with pools of pink Wild Thyme on the shorter turf, with the tiny pink and white stars of Squinancywort growing nearby. Yellow Ladies Bedstraw fills the air with it’s honey scent, with white Hedge Bedstraw growing nearby. Along the top of the Lighthouse Field, a hybrid of the two, with pale lemon-yellow flowers.
Wild Carrot and Wild Parsnip are getting taller, with their miniature relative Corky-fruited Water Dropwort and the similar, but unrelated Yarrow also in bloom.
Still plenty of orchids to enjoy, with Pyramidal and Common Spotted Orchid still in full bloom.
In the meadows, the purple flowers of Selfheal catch the eye, along with the similarly coloured Tufted Vetch and Great Knapweed also in bloom.
A few Guillemots and Razorbills bob on the water below the cliffs, though none remain on the ledges, now that the chicks have left for the year.