A lovely sky this morning, with shoals and ripples of cloud interspersed with streaks of bright blue and clear views, making the Isle of Wight look almost close enough to reach out and touch!
As the meadows fade to shades of gold and bronze, the clifftops are still a riot of colour in places. At the bottom of the Gully, dense stands of Golden Samphire adorn the path, alongside lots of purple-flowered Sea Aster.
A Peregrine lets rip with her blood-curdling shrieks as she passes Tilly Whim, while in a Gorse bush just above the Gully, Whitethroats and Stonechats bob in and out of the scrub as they feed.
Up onto Lighthouse Green, where plenty of Autumn Ladies Tresses are now in bloom (with many more in the Saxon Field and on the downland ridge). This tiny white-flowered orchid has the Latin name Spiranthes spiralis referring to the spiral of white flowers around the stem. If you want to go and look, do be careful where you tread, as most are no taller than my thumb!
On the short turf around them, bronze coloured Carline Thistles, vivid yellow Birdsfoot Trefoil and the bright purple flowers of Dwarf Thistle.
Near the quarr, a nice patch of Common Toadflax (a yellow-flowered wild ‘Snapdragon’) can be seen, with some late Lady’s Bedstraw nearby).
Elsewhere on the downs, the white-flowered Umbellifer Wild Carrot is still in bloom, along with it’s smaller, yellow-flowered relative Pepper Saxifrage.
In the hedgerows, Sloes and Haws in abundance on Blackthorn and Hawthorn, along with glossy Bryony berries, like strings of beads and translucent, jewel-like Honeysuckle berries. Plenty of hips on Dog Rose and Burnet Rose, along with the straggly Robin’s Pincushion galls – each holding deep inside a tiny wasp larva. Near the Lighthouse bridge, Old Man’s Beard is draped over scrub, forming a landscape of rounded hummocks and humps.
A fairly quiet morning for birds, though the highlight for me was a quick glimpse of a Redstart, darting out of the bushes along the side of the Saxon Field. A few Swallows overhead, with Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Grasshopper Warbler also seen or heard.