A dry, warm morning, with shoals of grey cloud interspersed with ripples of gold and a few fragments of bright blue (“enough to make a sailor a pair of trousers” as my Gran used to say!).
A blizzard of Swallows swirl around the Learning Centre, rolling and diving above the pond as they hoover up insects. Among the flock, a few of this year’s young, lacking the long tail-streamers of the adults, along with a few House Martins. A treat this morning, as I chatted to our bird ringers and got the chance to see a House Martin close up and see the unusual feathered legs and feet – usually only seen in birds of cold climates. The reasons why this is the only passerine with this adaptation are not certain, but it is possible that this helps them roost on the wing at very high altitudes.
A flurry of activity among the bird ringers this morning – along with Swallows and House Martins, Spotted Flycatcher and Grey Wagtail also ringed among many other ‘autumn’ species. A Southern Hawker Dragonfly whirs above the pond, making sharp, erratic seeming turns as it hunts.
Out in the meadows, a twittering charm of Goldfinches settle among the branches of an Elder, like brightly coloured fruit, with a family of Long-Tailed Tits working their way noisily along the scrub at the top of the Lighthouse Field. Scattered flocks (each of a few dozen) Woodpigeons clatter by overhead, with a flock of 10 Starlings (not a particularly common sight here) near the Large Copse.
A Kestrel hangs in the air above the Gully, with the harsh ‘cronks’ of a pair of Ravens heard over the Car Parks.
Our annual hay-cuts are now underway (though we always leave plenty uncut, for later flowers and insects), meaning the air is filled with the lovely scent of new mown hay.
Among the short downland turf, plenty of plants are still in bloom, including the tiny, white-flowered Bastard Toadflax, pink Wild Thyme, Eyebright, Carline Thistle, Dwarf Thistle, Restharrow and many more. A Bloody-nose Beetle plods mechanically among them.
Despite the rather overcast start to the day, Large and Small Whites, Red Admirals, Painted Ladies are all on the wing.