Last night around 100 people attended a successful Stargazing event which fantastic views of the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, some shooting stars, and a Glow-worm! We are hosting another event tonight: 9pm at the Learning Centre.
Today the clear skies continue, with the bright blue contrasting to the dry yellow grass. I think we’re due for another scorcher today. At least the wind blows from the north-east, bringing with it the sound of crickets from across the meadow, and rattling the yellow-topped Fleabane, Wild Parsnip, and Ragwort.
I walked on down past the Castle and parkrun volunteers to the observation point. Here, a Kestrel swoops past the glass wall, as the screeches of a Peregrine Falcon can be heard to my left. With quite the aerobatics, the kestrel darts and dives towards the screeches, but then continues around the head. I spot the peregrine perched on a rocky ledge; a black silhouette against the Sun’s reflections. I walk a little further down the path for a closer look, and find it’s eye focused west along the coast.
As I’m walking back to the observation point, the view disappears behind the towering fronds of Tamarisk, how do they grow so quickly? Mind you, there are already blackberries ripening from green to red on the Bramble, so I have to remind myself that we’re half-way through August!
It's here, that I discover the focus of the female peregrine’s attention. A smaller, male peregrine perches silently on the cliffs towards the empty guillemot ledges. A few Shags and a Herring Gull can be seen closer to the water, whilst two Swifts and a few Woodpigeons fly overhead.
On my return up the hill, I head through South field to find a Wall Butterfly atop a dry stone wall, and a Woolly Thistle cover in it’s fluffy woolly seeds. Towards a trough, I spy the red-face of a Partridge running in panicked circles, and also a couple of Greenfinch on the Hawthorn.