Another hot morning – almost 18 degrees before 9am, with a gentle north-easterly breeze carrying with it the smell of ‘Mayflower’ (or Hawthorn blossom) and the sea.
Whitethroats pour out their scratchy song from hedgerows and scrub, with the soothing coos of Woodpigeons, twittering of Linnets, tapping of Stonechats and the lyrical, breathless song of Skylarks also heard.
The intense green of the downland grasses is starting to mellow and be tinged with gold as the spring turns and a profusion of flowers are scattered across the downs. Tall spikes of ‘dusty’ blue Wild Clary mingle with buttery yellow Birdsfoot Trefoil, the paler and more delicate Horseshoe Vetch and the first Meadow Vetchling I have seen this year.
Tiny pink-flowered Centaury clings to the thin soils on the Milepost slope, alongside electric blue Chalk Milkwort, the shaggy pop-pom flowers of Salad Burnet and the intricate flowers of the tiny Quaking Grass – each on a stem so fine that it quivers in the lightest breeze. Common Spotted Orchids are starting to flower in the meadows, with lots of bright pink Sainfoin (appearing in new areas of the Park over the last few years – maybe a reflection of our hotter, drier summers, given the plant’s Middle Eastern heritage?).
As the Cowslips start to fade, Ox-eye Daisies are just starting to open, with Yellow Rattle, Bulbous Buttercup and Pale Flax also in bloom.
Great weather for butterflies, with lots of Common Blue (and a few Adonis Blue) already on the wing – the morning sunshine making them gleam like fragments of stained-glass window. Small Whites, Small Heaths, Dingy Skippers, Speckled Wood and Red Admiral also on the wing.
A glossy black Bloody-nose Beetle plods across the path in front of me, while the stems of many plants are covered with frothy ‘Cuckoo Spit’ – each home to a tiny, pale green Froghopper larva, providing shelter and protection as it grows into it’s adult form.
The cliffs are bustling with Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmars, Great Black-backed Gull and Shags.