Another warm and sunny start, with the wind still blowing in from the north-east (as it has been for the last 2 weeks!).
The meadows are looking truly spectacular, basking beneath a bright blue sky, reflected by the haze of blue Pale Flax flowers, which hang like mist above the fields.
Countless thousands of Ox-eye Daisies dance in the breeze, with pools of Yellow Rattle, tall pink spikes of Sainfoin, swarms of dozens of Common Spotted Orchids, and lovely, furry Bee Orchids nestled among the tangle of smaller plants. The tall yellow flowers of Rough Hawkbit shine up from the grass like hundreds of little suns!
In Centenary meadow, the strange, brown flowers of Common Broomrape can be found. A true parasite, so lacking green chlorophyll, this little plant can look dead at first glance.
The hedgerows are filled with the huge white flowers of Elder, sweet-scented Hawthorn and a tangle of flowering Honeysuckle. Here and there, the glossy leaves of Wayfaring Tree catch the sunlight – now covered in shiny, hard green berries. Bittersweet (or Woody Nightshade) is also in bloom, with it’s distinctive purple and yellow ‘lantern’ flowers (a little like those of Tomatoes – another solanum). Whitethroats, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs sing from among the scrub, as Skylarks carol high overhead.
On the downland, the enormous, furry leaves of Burdock sprawl at the edges of the scrub, with Wild Thyme carpeting anthills, the little white flowers of Eyebright on the shortest turf with pools of yellow Birdsfoot Trefoil, Kidney Vetch and Horseshoe Vetch also in bloom.
Along the clifftop, Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmars and Shags are all on the wing, with an unusual view of a Cormorant, as it flaps along just a few metres above the Coast Path. On the cliff edge, pink Thrift covers the clifftop, with yellow-flowered Black Mustard growing taller by the day, alongside the ‘dusty’ pink flowers of Tamarisk.