Another lovely day at Durlston, yesterday we had a wonderful butterfly transect, with a few Lulworth Skippers and Marbled White are starting to emerge, among the usual Meadow Brown and Common Blue. While out on the transect I had a beautiful view of a Yellow Hammer sitting on top of a Gorse bush, this brightly coloured bird of the bunting family nests on or near to the ground around thick bushes and hedgerows, feasting on insects and seeds throughout the summer.
In Saxon field this morning a family of Great Tits were moving around an Elder tree, a Wren was darting between the hedgerows and a Chaffinch was singing from the top of a Hawthorn. Yellow Rattle is a gorgeous maroon colour as it grows in between the many Common Spotted Orchids and Meadow Buttercups.
Around me the air is filled with bird song, Chiffchaff, Linnet, Great Tit, Whitethroat and Chaffinch all sing away and a family of Long-tailed Tits fly over-head, landing in a nearby Sycamore tree.
I wondered through Ox-eye Meadow this morning, which has an abundance of Ox-eye Daisy’s, as well as a lovely mix of Crested Dogs Tail, Oat and Rye Grass, Pale Flax, Field Scabious, Sanfoin, Red Clover, Knapweed and many more wonderful wild flowers and grasses. Buzzing around the flowers was a mass of White-tailed Bumblebees and Meadow Brown Butterflies. In the hedgerows Chiffchaff, Stonechat and Robin sing, and in a patch of Kidney Vetch White-tailed Bumblebees enjoy the sweet nectar.
Looking over Johnston Meadow the burnt orange haunch of a Roe Deer shined beautifully against the golden yellow of Dyer’s Greenweed. Along the top of Lighthouse field splashes of Sorrel, mix with a patch of Toadflax, while Large Skipper, Small Skipper and Common Blue flitter around.