I decided it was about time I had an early walk with Tilly up on Okeford Hill to see what was about, so on 13th July I headed up there for an hour. I was pleased to see a Rabbit! I know it sounds daft but there haven’t been so many around as there was a lot of myxomatosis in our area and it was great to see a healthy one!

I walked to the path that crosses from Okeford Hill to Bonsley Common and went the length of the path and I wasn’t disappointed, there were Yellowhammers and I heard a scratchy sound in the bushes and realised it was Whitethroats, I won’t forget that sound

Usually I see plenty of Stonechats but I only saw the one on the bean crop.

Quite a few Linnets about and small flocks of Goldfinches too.

The wildlife margins are flowering well, the Scabious flower is looking good as are the Wild Chicory plus many other flowers and I notice there had been patches of wildflowers sown in the fields with Cornflowers, Scented Mayweed and Sunflowers just budding up, it’s going to be lovely to see when they are flowering. I wonder if they are going to leave them for the birds for the winter, time will tell.

I did notice much of the Blackberry bushes along the path were covered in rust and certainly won’t be producing fruit this year I hope it doesn’t spread too much as it may kill them and is an important part of the hedgerow for the birds and mammals.