The reserve has changed quite dramtically over the last few weeks; the seabird colony has departed and the cliffs are much quieter, less smelly affair! That's not to say that the reserve isn't teeming with life... the Chough families are busy foraging for insects, the Stonechat broods are confusing all the visitors with their speckled appearance and we have had a couple of unusual visitors; a Hobby last week and a Marsh Harrier this morning!
The summer weather has been fabulous for butterflies and our participation in the 'big butterfly count' was a big success. Many of our visitors saw Silver-studded Blue and Fritillary butterflies and one keen-eyed visitor spotted dozens of the polka-dot, silver winged moth the Orchard Ermine atop a wild carrot plant. Remember that if you took part in the survey, either on the reserve or at home, you still have until the end of August to submit your findings online. Also, if you'd like to find out more about moths then please pop along to our moth event on Friday 19th August, all levels of expertise welcome! Check out this link for more info http://www.rspb.org.uk/events/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-284619.
The sun has also brought out the snakes and lizards. One lucky visitor to the range part of the reserve actually witnessed an Adder eating a Common Lizard! We're just waiting for him to send in his picture...
The heath is looking phenomenal at the moment in it's shades of lilac, purple and yellow. We will be running some guided walks throughout the rest of the year which are listed online on the South Stack page.
Yesterday we had great views from Ellins Tower of Gannets diving for fish around the Harbour Porpoise that were also fishing off the end of the lighthouse island - it was brilliant!
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Let us know if you see anything interesting...
Kathy x