Memories of summer

The sun was shining as I walked the dog yesterday morning and it was very pleasant to stand in the warmth of its rays in the park as I spent a minute or two listening to the robin in the nearby bush who was singing fit to bust.  At this time of the year it is only the robin one hears, although I did see a cock blackbird trying it on with a hen bird the other day.  She gave him the brush off!

Talking of hearing, I was pleased to hear a green woodpecker in the park over the weekend.  I have neither seen nor heard the resident bird for several months and I rather assumed he/she was no longer.  But perhaps this is a different bird?

After lunch I took Fern (that's the dog, not the wife) along the path from the back of Falmer that leads out to Plumpton Plain.  I remembered that it was on this path one day in the spring that I could hear nothing but the song of a skylark; I blogged about it here.  We didn't go the whole way along the path yesterday and I turned into a field beside the path to make our way back on firmer ground.  I had admired - and photographed - the bare branches of trees standing against the blue sky across the field to my left when something made me look to the right.  There, about a hundred yards away, was a bunch of three deer.  They stood perfectly still, watching me, and even stayed while I raised the camera and photographed them several times.  I know there are plenty of deer in Sussex but it's not often one sees them on the Downs.

I'll get round to uploading those photos one day but in the meantime, here is a view from this path across the Downs towards Ditching Beacon.