Alight at dawn despite the cold
The suns warm rays shall soon take hold
Display your colours, bask in the light
And so expunge the chill of night
What would shun the dark and shady?
Adder? No: a Painted Lady
This morning was distinctly chilly. I opted to grab a jacket before heading out into the Meadows. Small trios and quartets of Goldfinches were on the move in the skies, with a few Blackcaps flashing their distinctive scalp plumage from the Hedgerows. Swallows slalomed after insects in the morning sun, each seeming to be traversing an invisible obstacle course. They have much agility.
The Saxon Field was displaying a surprising number of Ox Eye Daisies. I suppose you could call them late bloomers. A few Knapweed still flew their royal purple colours but most had shrivelled into a withered brown.
As I walked through the Drove my attention was drawn to the abundant berry carriers, each supporting its own vividly coloured fruits. The rich red of Hawthorn alongside deep blue-purple of Blackthorn was overlaid with more red berries from Wild Clematis and combined red-purple of Bramble. Berries are strange things, the fruit has evolved to be as edible as possible (after visibly ripening) whereas the seeds are adapted to be highly unappetizing and sometimes even toxic. Some can’t even germinate until they’ve passed through the digestive tract of an animal.
I resumed my attempted birdwatching when I arrived at the Lighthouse and was rewarded with a few successes. A couple of Wheatear were active down near the bottom of the Gulley. Some Dunnocks bounced around in front of my binoculars as well and while I couldn’t see it, there was definitely at least one Stonechat a ‘calling this morning. Over the water a Shag flew so close to the waves that its wings struck the surface, little white splashes popping up along its flightpath like a skipping stone. A patch or two of Sea Campion and Sea Aster could still be seen blooming along the Clifftops, though almost all of the Golden Samphire had gone over.
Above the Tilly Whim Caves a Painted Lady was sunning itself on a rock, its pale faded colouring somehow complimenting the chill windswept morning.