Yet another warm day with no rain on the horizon for quite some time still. The grass is all looking rather dried out and crispy and the dried-out clay beneath my feet crumbling as I walk.
Straight out through the meadows this morning immediately meeting an avid bird watcher who reports having seen a female Bullfinch earlier and is still on the lookout for Willow Warblers though no luck so far. I continue through Skipworth, bright red shiny berries clusters catch the sun. the once fragrant flowers of Honey Suckle now replaces with berries. The Blackthorn the vine is clinging to is also covered in its own berries, the sloes now starting to turn a deep purple.
At the entrance to the large copse two Chiffchaff hop amongst the branches of a Holm Oak. The neighbouring Sycamore is laden with helicopter like seeds waiting to be taken by the wind and distributed.
Walking along the path in taskers, clouds of Gate Keeper Butterflies seem to spring up from the path as I walk through. More butterflies appear along the hedge row while other flit across the top of the meadow. I don’t think I have ever seen so many in one place, it seems to be a fantastic year for these butterflies.
Through the gate into Saxon where Fleabane carpets the ground, some just starting to be adorned with bright sunshine yellow flowers.
Stopping in a shady spot in Holocombe, I watch a flock of Goldfinch flit amongst the scrub. The younger birds a more muted colour compared to the older counter parts, with brightly colour plumage. A couple of White Throats also make an appearance occasionally popping out of scrub to grant me a glimpse of them.
The whomp whomp of a Ravens wings passing close by over head pulls my attention to the bird who comes to land of the cross bar above a trough. It holds it beak open seemingly panting, I can image be a black bird in this heat is not fun. Resting a while on the bar before making the decides to hop down to the trough below, it visibly looks relieved to have had a good drink.
Heading back to the centre the screech of a Peregrine Falcon above fills the air, the bird rises higher on a thermal making it harder and harder to see with out being blinded by the sun.