23 joined me for a Sussex Ornithology walk at Beachy Head (Whitbread Hollow) but blustery winds kept most migrants hidden. Luckily the team at the Ringing Station interested with ringing talk and Chiffchaff and Reed Warbler ‘in hand’. We found Swallow; Peregrine; Raven; Yellow WT.

For those who have seen gloomy forecasts of wind, rain, hail and thunderstorms this morning: some colour from Sussex heathlands (Old Lodge NR Ashdown Forest on Friday Sussex Wildlife Trust 🦔 )

Some ‘it has been a hard summer’ butterflies seen near Beachy Head yesterday in the gusty wind: Common Blue (female); Small White; Large White. Sussex Butterfly Conservation

Sympetrum striolatum (Common Darter) at Old Lodge NR on Friday. A male. common I know and easy to snap, posing so obligingly, but always worth a good look. Sussex Wildlife Trust 🦔 British Dragonfly Society

An easy one for the #WildFlowerHour #ClimbingPlants challenge: Lonicera periclymenum (Honeysuckle) seen at Beachy Head on Saturday.

Another one for the #WildFlowerHour #ClimbingPlant challenge: Clematis vitalba (Traveller’s-joy) - L from Rye Harbour last weekend and R from Beachy Head this weekend.

Eyebright (Euphrasia) at Beachy Head at the weekend showing the Doctrine of Signature attribute that supported its medieval use in eye disorders. BSBI: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland

Sweet Chestnut, Autumn already! Castanea sativa a long way from home - the Mediterranean - at Old Lodge NR (Sussex Wildlife Trust 🦔 ). We might enjoy chestnuts at Christmas (and squirrels might at any time) but the high tannin levels in leaves and bark keep foliage eaters at bay.

A view of the trunk of a Rowan at Old Lodge NR for #thicktrunktuesday Sorbus aucuparia is a member of the Rose family.

Larus canus. The now not so Common Gull now added to the U.K. Red List of birds of Conservation Concern alongside other new additions: Great Black-backed Gull, Arctic Tern, Great Skua and Leach’s Storm Petrol. RSPB

Sneezewort Achiillea ptarmica on my regular High Weald walk late last week - I was reminded to post it by seeing one in the gardens at Scotney Castle yesterday. It is, after all, a member of the world’s largest family of flowering g plants.

For #WildWebsWednesday the large gall of Urophora cardui, one of the Picture-winged Flies, on a thistle. This is the first I have seen this year on my regular High Weald walk. The larvae will pupate and be released next summer to start the cycle over again. British Plant Galls

Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum) on Greater Knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa) at Beachy Head on the weekend for #WildWebsWednesday. Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Fruit of the Tulip Tree looking suitably exotic though only from the other side of the Atlantic from East North America to Scotney Castle where I saw it this week.

Excellent: another PG to accompany PG Bumblebees and PG Butterflies.

To brighten another grey September day here is a flash of brightness: Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) berries (these at Old Lodge NR last week). They contain sorbin (a sugar), various acids and potassium and I understand have been used in Poland to flavour vodka. Woodland Trust🌳

Another offering for a grey wet day this to add fragrance and colour: Origanum vulgare (Wild Marjoram) gracing Beachy Head currently. They also attract butterflies are useful in cooking and frighten of the devil (apparently) a useful combination of attributes. BSBI: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland

Hips, haws, nuts and berries! It’s starting to look a bit autumnal out there! So this week’s challenge is #fruits! Share your finds of wild & naturalised fruits for #wildflowerhour this Sunday 8-9pm. Happy fruit hunting! ☺️🍒

A strange and isolated patch of pink near Birling Gap - Sapinaria officinalis (Soapwort). The roots have been used as a soap. The Flora says: “Archaeophyte. Sx: occasional” and notes it still occurs on the Crumbles at Eastbourne perhaps from an old laundry there. Sussex Botanical Recording Society

Another attempt to brighten a day with a grey, heavy, thunderous beginning - the bright orange berries of Sea-buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). These from RSPB Dungeness but also an occasional the other side of Rye Bay and along the Sussex coast. BSBI: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland