A fresh south-westerly breeze, combined with sunshine made for a refreshing walk up to work this morning.
In the cool, dappled green of the woodland, Speckled Wood butterflies dogfight over sunny glades, a Red Admiral basks on one of the newly re-built viewpoints with a intricately patterned orange and black Wall butterfly sunbathing on the path near the ‘Rest and Admire’ bench.
A huge green Emperor Dragonfly whirs up and down the hill near the Castle, as it hunts smaller insects, as Swallows and Sand Martins swirl above Long Meadow.
A male and female Wall Lizard are also enjoying the sun, perched on the all of the Castle near the ‘Clock Times’ panel, their bodies flattened to soak up as much heat as possible.
With most of our breeding seabirds now back at sea, the cliffs seem very quiet, however the peace is shattered by the bloodcurdling screech of a Peregrine as he swerves his way along the cliff edge. Below, a Shag perches on a flat rock just above the sea, slowly flapping his wings as he dries out after an early morning dip.
On the clifftop wall, a Common Lizard (smaller and more bronze coloured than the Wall Lizards) darts back into the wall as it feels the vibration of my approaching steps.
The downland is now a sea of bronze and gold as the grasses fade into their summer shades, punctuated by bright purple Greater Knapweed, lilac Field Scabious and tall, ferociously spiky Woolly Thistles (the only member of the species we have here with spikes pointing in all directions!). Wild Carrot and Wild Parsnip are also in bloom, along with the superficially similar (but unrelated) Yarrow.
Large White and Peacock Butterflies sip nectar from Ragwort, with a few Six-spot Burnet moths still on the wing. On the sheltered southern slopes of the Lighthouse Field, Adonis Blue, Common Blue, Small Copper and lots of Gatekeepers are also on the wing.
Walking back up from Gully, a Roe Deer bursts out of the scrub ahead of me – I’m always amazed at the power and acceleration they have – as he alternately runs and leaps, he must have easily been doing 20 miles an hour (their top recorded speed is near 40!).