ROY BAMFORD shares the fruits of his springtime stroll along the clifftop Ceredigion Coastal Path.

RECENTLY I made some time for my annual Borth to Aberystwyth coastal walk.

Initially I had hoped to do it partly along the beach but the time and tides were against that, so the clifftop Coastal Path had to suffice. This, on later reflection, was probably no bad thing as several miles of shingle beach and boulders would not have done my dodgy knee any favours.

About the middle of March and in the midst of that very welcome dry spell, there was a brisk north-easterly blowing and the sky was clear blue.

The sea was still slightly disturbed and a typical khaki colour, despite the surface being almost unruffled.

In sheltered spots (and there are a few, even on the clifftop) it was decidedly warm, but despite several stops for a breather at likely spots and to take in the views, I saw no sign of any butterflies.

For several days I had been half expecting to see a small tortoiseshell or maybe a peacock (at least in the garden), but they have been ominously absent, even up to the end of the month, by which time the fine weather had broken anyway.

In fact the only butterfly that I had seen by the end of March was a solitary comma. This butterfly has gradually spread north and westwards and only been around in west Wales since perhaps the mid-’70s. I can remember seeing one of the first in the summer of 1977, flying across the Dyfi Estuary.

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