A grey, but dry start to the day, with a sky streaked with flinty blue-grey cloud and feeling fresher after some overnight rain.
The rain has filled the air with the scents of later summer – the bitter tang of Bracken and Bramble, the sweet scent of Old Man’s Beard in the hedgerows and the smell of wet grass and the sea.
The downland is a rich palette of purple and gold, as late summer flowers weep across the fields. Dark, ‘Imperial Purple’ Greater Knapweed can be seen, alongside smaller, paler Common Knapweed. Similar, pale lilac Field Scabious is in bloom, along with smaller ‘dusty red’ Red Bartsia.
Golden yellow Ragwort catches the eye – a much misunderstood plant, it provides a valuable nectar source for late summer insects. A beautiful iridescent green Thick-kneed Flower Beetle nestles in the heart of a Woolly Thistle flower, as nearby, a Red Admiral perches on a dry-stone wall, soaking up the weak summer sun.
Taller plants include Wild Carrot, Wild Parsnip, Yarrow, Burdock and Great Mullein.
On the shorter turf Eyebright, Wild Thyme, Restharrow, Birdsfoot Trefoil and ‘Picnic Thistle’ jostle for space, with a few delicate blue Harebells (or ‘Scottish Bluebells’) flowering on Lighthouse Green.
In the hedges, the creamy flowers of Old Man’s Beard are still plentiful, while translucent crimson Honeysuckle berries can be found among the slowly ripening Blackberries.
Still plenty of insect life to find, including Harvestmen (or ‘Daddy Long Legs Spiders’), stalking through the grass – unlike true spiders they have only two eyes, no fangs or venom, their head and body are all one and they don’t make webs, instead, stalking their prey through the long grass.
Also seen this morning, Field and Common Green Grasshoppers, Speckled Bush Cricket and Gatekeeper and Painted Lady butterflies.
Twittering flocks of Goldfinches are starting to gather, feeding on the ever-growing crop of seed-heads.