Tigers on the cliffs!
Between Lyme Regis and West Bay, the Dorset coastline is very unstable. The coastal footpath that meanders along the cliff tops has been closed in several places because of erosion, and if you walk along the base of these same cliffs you need to be aware of not only being assaulted by loose debris from above, but also from being cut off by rising tides that will give you no option but to take refuge on the unstable bases. As hostile as this sounds, it is a place of strange beauty. The image above was taken from the beach between Charmouth and St. Gabriel's, looking up at one of the more dramatic cliff slumps. It is here where I encountered a very rare beetle indeed... Cylindera germanica (or the Cliff Tiger Beetle if you prefer), is found only on the soft, south-facing cliffs of Dorset, Devon and the Isle of Wight. It is thermophilic (that's warmth-loving to you and me) and uses the heat of the day to store up energy so that it can hunt on cool days. And boy can this be...