Another scorching morning, though a gentle breeze provides some pleasant respite from the heat, carrying the scents of dry grass, Marjoram, Wild Thyme, coconut-scented Gorse and the sea.
Butterflies galore on the wing, with a whirling flurry of more than a dozen Marbled Whites along the Diagonal Path, where Lulworth Skippers whir among the dry stems of Cocksfoot, Meadow Oat Grass, Tor Grass, Timothy Grass and Crested Dogs Tail.
A beautiful orange Comma, with jagged wings perches on the Gorse above the path, with dark Meadow Browns and smaller, orange and brown Gatekeepers also on the wing.
In the Gully, a Dark Green Fritillary glides by – a brilliant shade of orange, with tiny Small Heaths darting among the grass below.
Countless thousands of red and black Six-Spot Burnet Moths bask on the flowers of Knapweed and Field Scabious in the meadows, or whir into a pink blur of wings.
Soldier Beetles, with brick red bodies and black ‘bums’ can be seen in their thousands on the large, flat flowers of Wild Carrot, including many mating pairs (the females significantly larger than the males).
Just outside the Learning Centre, an Emperor Dragonfly patrols backwards and forwards, in glittering shades of green and blue. Nearby, a Ringlet circles above the flowering Bramble.
The meadows are still looking stunning! As the grasses fade to soft shades of gold and bronze, dappled with the yellow flowers of Wild Parsnip, white Corky-fruited Water Dropwort and Pepper Saxifrage.
Beneath them, pink and white Common Restharrow tangles across the grass, with tiny, white-flowered Squinancywort, yellow Ladies Bedstraw and rattling pods of Hay Rattle.
On the downs, Wild Thyme carpets the anthills, with ‘dusty’ yellow Ploughmans Spikenard, pink Centaury, Yellow-wort and Eyebright.
Along the cliffs, a Peregrine screeches from below the Observation Point, with Great Black-backed Gulls and Shags also on the wing.