
A calm morning, overcast. Tiny moths and butterflies flutter deep into the grass but none of the larger butterflies is on the wing. Last week, flowers of hawksbeard turned their open faces to the sun, releasing nectar to invite pollination by bees and butterflies. Overnight, the flowers furl their petals close again.
I found a six-spot burnet moth clinging motionless to a seeding grass stem. It's a rather languid moth once it settles. Unlike the tiny ones whose wings were never still.
One of my favourites is Dropwort with deep pink buds and a froth of white flowers and it's everywhere amongst the grasses. I found a spread of Mountain everlasting close to the escarpment cliff- edge and I saw how very different the full-blown flowers appear to the budding plants I found a few weeks ago.