The wind has dropped off since yesterday and the sea is calm across to the Isle of Wight. The island appears to have risen as a dark silhouette on the horizon. With a slight breeze in its sails, a yacht manages to make its way East, whilst the Tamarisk on the clifftop stands still.
A couple of Gulls bicker at the foot of the cliffs, where the water can be heard sloshing gently around the rocks. A few small groups of Shags stand in twos and threes, and every now and then you can see one passing along the coast; it’s lofty wings beating close to the water.
As I head along the clifftop, the hum of insects begin to grow. A few Beetles and a Common Carder Bee collect pollen from a flowering Teasel. Jackdaws cackle as they flock overhead, and a Woodpigeon can be heard softly cooing in the distance.
An even louder hum of insects reverberates from Long Meadow; a continuous whirring of Crickets and Grasshoppers hidden amongst the swathes of dry grasses. A Buff-tailed Bumblebee bumbles between a mosaic of Wild Carrot, sun-topped Fleabane, and low Red Bartsia.
A few Gatekeepers flutter along the hedgerow, and one pauses atop the Bramble to show off it’s orange and brown wings with the characteristic double-dotted eye spot. The purple-flowered Tufted Vetch has climbed to great heights by sending out twirling tendrils which slowly clamber and cling onto every branch.