A wonderful summer morning, with the sea sparkling in shades of blue from steel to turquoise to almost white and a perfect dome of sky, with just a couple of scuffs of high cirrus.
Hirundines are loving the warm weather, with a swirling flock of House Martins soaring and diving above the Castle woodland, with a flock of Swallows taking it turns to make high speed ‘Trench Runs’ on the Wildlife Area pond. Meanwhile dark, sickle-winged Swifts veer and screech above the Learning Centre as they hoover up tiny insects (although somewhat similar in shape and habit, Swifts are not closely related to Swallows and Martins).
As I scan the Lighthouse Field with my binoculars, a small Hawthorn below the Quarr makes me smile, as neatly framed in one tree are a Greenfinch, a Goldfinch, a Chaffinch, a Stonechat and 2 Whitethroats, all perched on adjacent branches - almost like an illustration from a bird book!
A Kestrel hangs in the air above the Gully, which is filled with a ‘blizzard’ of butterflies. Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns are the most abundant, along with plenty of Marbled Whites, Large Whites, Small Blues and a Red Admiral.
A Roe Deer bounds across the slopes in front of me, before diving into a dense patch of Gorse.
The downland flowers are looking magnificent at the moment – brightly coloured jewels scattered among the golden grasses. Rich purple Greater Knapweed bobs in the breeze, alongside the large, pink-tinged umbels of Wild Carrot and yellow flowers of Wild Parsnip. Beneath them, swathes of ‘dusty pink’ Red Bartsia borders the paths, with some anthills densely carpeted with pink Wild Thyme.
Other short turf species include the tiny white and pink stars of the wonderfully named Squinancywort, the candy-striped ‘pea’ flowers of Restharrow, intricate white Eyebright, Picnic Thistle (a single purple flower on the savagely spiky leaves which give it it’s name (you really don’t want to sit on it!). Also in bloom, Carline Thistle, Common and Bastard Toadflax, Birdsfoot Trefoil and Kidney Vetch, to name just a few.
A patch of Hemp Agrimony on the Diagonal Path has attracted 3 Peacock and 5 Red Admirals.
On the wall of the Castle, a pair of green Wall Lizards sunbathe next to the ‘Clock Times’ tablet, with another on top of the Timeline wall at the front of the building.