23rd July Pendeen

I've now reached that state of holiday enlightenment and contentment where I have no particular inclination or need to do much at all. This was all very much helped by the weather: whilst it was somewhat overcast there was very little wind and Pendeen is just such a lovely place to be when the wind stops. Firstly there was the modest haul in the moth trap to go through and I was rewarded with a couple of new moths for the very modest garden list.

Nutmeg

Tawny Shears

I spent the morning pootling around looking at flowers and just enjoying the scenery. I've been seeing one or two Chough each day whilst down here but today I managed a flock of seven birds which were wheeling away down by the cliffs before heading over to the fields by Manor Farm to join the flock of Rooks and Jackdaws feeding in amongst the cattle in the field.

Pendeen Chough

Come the afternoon my VLW and our eldest daughter decided to go for a short walk along the coast to the Levant Engine ruins whilst the rest of us stayed in or around the cottage. I decided to explore one of my favourite local valleys and passed a happy hour photographing the Silver-studded Blues and Grayling. I also saw a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and the Golden-ringed Dragonfly again though I didn't get a chance to photograph either of them.

Grayling

Silver-studded Blues

There were also plenty of interesting plants and flowers to discover.

Bog Asphodel

Heath-spotted Orchid

Common Milkwort

So engrossed was I that I lost all track of time until suddenly I realised that I was late for the rendezvous with the two walkers so I hurried back to the cottage and got the other two ready. Then we nipped off in the car to pick them up. On the way back we stopped off at Heathers (which was actually open today) for a nice cream tea. Back at the cottage some of us went down to the lighthouse to stare at the sea until the first drops of rain forced us back home. The evening was taken up with  meal, a bit of blogging for me and a family DVD. It was still raining lightly but I put on the "moth light" outside on the off chance and immediately began to attract some moths so despite the forecast for wind and rain all night I put out the trap on the off chance. We shall see what it brings.