A different walk from the one yesterday along the Trailway, this morning,9th June I headed towards Hambledon Hill and one of my circlular walks that takes me towards Shroton Brake and around the base of Hambledon Hill. The weather was still changeable with a promise of more showers to come, the clouds were building up as I approached Hambledon Hill. It was fairly quiet with lots of birds with youngsters in the undergrowth but keeping undercover.

As I approached the hill from the Bridleway suddenly there were twenty or more Swifts above Tilly and me, I tried a photograph them but they were too quick so I spent some time watching them swooping around the base of the hill and then suddenly they were gone, such a lovely experience.

I decided to skirt round the bottom of the hill that morning and I was looking out for birds and flowers when I spotted several Common Blue butterflies on the grasses with their wings spread, I would imagine they were drying their wings after the nights rain ready for the day foraging. I had my 300mm lens with a 1.4x teleconverter on and I still managed to get a good closeup, the advantage is you can take an image from a distance without disturbing the butterflies.

I also spotted my first Pyramidal Orchid out on the hill, there are plenty of Common Spotted Orchids out and the Pyramidal Orchids follow on.

One of the joys of our early morning walk is the sudden scent of the Honeysuckle this time of year. You can be walking down a lane or path and not spot it until that scent hits you and then you find it rambling over the hedges and trees.

There are so many Wrens about this year, the little bird with the big voice it’s always a bonus when you have time to watch them but they soon disappear if disturbed.

I was thinking as I walked along that I hadn’t seen a Yellowhammer for a while and suddenly there were two and one perched just above me and started singing, he had lovely yellow plumage.

As I get back towards the village I often see a Grey Squirrel using the electric wires as a pathway, they are very nimble but don’t seem to read very well!!