A beautiful late summer morning, with the wonderful scent of new-mown hay drifting across the Park, as our meadow cuts are now underway.
Always a bittersweet time of year, as the glorious summer meadows are reduced to neat rows of drying green hay. Over the next week, the hay will be turned a few times, to ensure it dries properly and that the seeds drop out. Over the winter, the hay will be used to feed our cows if we are short on grazing, meaning that we are not introducing any new species by accident.
Cutting and removing the hay is essential to maintain these important habitats and prevent coarser grasses dominating and ultimately, the development of scrub or woodland. Nonetheless, we always leave some areas within each meadow and a few whole meadows uncut, to ensure some continuity of habitat for insects, birds and other species.
2 Kestrels seen above the meadows, hoping to take advantage of the loss of cover, with Magpies poking through the cuttings.
In the uncut headlands, purple Common Knapweed is still in bloom, along with golden-yellow Common Ragwort, ‘dusty looking’ Red Bartsia, Bristly Ox-tongue, lilac Field Scabious, Wild Carrot, Wild Parsnip and Corky-fruited Water Dropwort (now displaying the fruits which give it it’s name).
Plenty of butterflies on the wing, including Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Common Blues, Red Admirals along with lots of Painted Ladies.
Chamois leather coloured Lulworth Skippers dart above the Tor Grass along the Coast Path, along with Small Skippers, Small Heaths and a Wall, sunbathing in the middle of the path. Speckled Woods dogfight in the woodland glades, with a Holly Blue fluttering along just ahead of me as I walked up Tasker’s path.
Plenty of other insects on the wing, including a Bloody-nose Beetle, lumbering across the short grass near the Learning Centre, an intricately patterned Mother Shipton moth among the longer grass, with Common Green, Field and Meadow Grasshoppers singing on the downland.
Swallows and Martins swoop low over the car parks, as they hoover up the last of the flying ants (numbers peaked a couple of days ago, when the air was full of circling Herring Gulls, taking advantage of these free snacks!).