A strange early morning, as the drizzle was tumbling out of a completely grey sky, such a change from recently. Underfoot a few puddles gathered, while sliding across the wet ground were snails, four different species identified including Garden Snail, Trapdoor Snail, Spiral Snail and Lapidary Snail.
Along the cliff tops the colours are changing with Thrift starting to bloom providing splashes of pink, now alongside the yellows of Bird’s foot Trefoil and Kidney Vetch.
On the water 4 Razorbills were bobbing, their blacker backs allowing, at a glance relatively easy differentiation from the browner Guillemots. Providing an air show were two Fulmars, banking, curving and then for a moment hovering before flinging out their short pink legs and webbed feet and then moving on again.
The Guillemot breeding season now underway with lots of eggs on the ledges, the variety of colours ranging from bright blue to dull pale grey, these eggs will be incubated for about 30days with both parents taking their turn.
A Rock Pipit strutted around the short turf where the bright blue of Chalk Milkwort also caught my attention. Upon looking more closely suddenly 10 Early Spider Orchids appeared as if from nowhere – amazing how difficult they can be to see sometimes and then not!
Over the last few winters we have been working on reducing some of the overgrown scrub, and in its place, a number of Early Purple Orchids have appeared, tall pink and beautiful!
Perched on the yellow flowered spikes of Gorse was a Stonechat and one of its close relatives the Robin, both ‘chats’ acting quite similarly, flicking their tails, flitting up and relanding.
In yesterday’s warm sunshine a Red Kite passed over, while the moth trap which was my first of the year, took sometime to go through produced a list including Common Quaker, Silver Y, Light Feathered Rustic, Angleshades, Brimstone and a Waved Umber