As summer starts to turn, the vivid greens and intense colours of the Park are starting to soften into shades of gold and bronze.
A powerful south-westerly wind roars across the meadows, making the grasses rattle and ripple. Crested Dogstail, Cocksfoot, Yorkshire Fog and Yellow Oat Grass are all in flower, many of the stems adorned with the shiny golden chrysalises of Six-spot Burnet Moths.
Also, very visible, the more vivid yellow colour of Tor Grass: although an important species on the downland, it is spreading in the meadows, at the cost of other species, hence our ongoing trial of different management techniques to control it.
Splashes of colour from Field Scabious, Marjoram, Bristly Ox-tongue and Greater Knapweed, Ragwort, Agrimony and bright yellow Fleabane, with Field and Meadow Grasshopper making their way through the undergrowth.
The hedgerows are full of ripening fruit, with Bramble, Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Honeysuckle all covered in fruit, with evidence that Badgers have been enjoying the plentiful supply of Blackberries, with their ‘latrines’ starting to fill with purple poo!
On the downs, the tiny white flowers of our last orchid of the year, Autumn Ladies Tresses can be found. Just a couple of inches high, the latin name Spiranthes spiralis describes the way the flowers spiral around the stem.
Also in bloom on the short turf, Wild Thyme, Squinancywort, Picnic Thistle, Eyebright, Common Restharrow and the beautiful golden Carline Thistle – looking like a little metal art-deco sculpture.
Among the longer grass, the seedheads of Wild Carrot, Wild Parsnip and Teasel bob in the breeze, along with the ‘scruffy’ flowers of Ploughmans Spikenard.
With the strong winds this morning, not many birds on the wing, however, a few Gannets pass by out at sea, with Shags and Herring Gulls also battling the winds.