
We have our regular Saturday Walking Picnic from Abbots Well tomorrow, and I have decided to do a loop round Pitts Wood for the walk. It's a couple of weeks since I was last up there, so I thought I would wander round, and see if there was anything about. As I stopped at the crest of the ridge and looked down at the wood, I could hear a raven croaking. As I looked for the raven, two hobbies appeared, and quartered the valley looking for dragonflies, before sitting up in one of the tall pines. Meanwhile, a Dartford warbler was shouting at me from a nearby gorse bush. On into the wood to find a couple of nice groups of fungi, and a red admiral butterfly. On the way back across Hampton Ridge I managed to get a nice photo of a kestrel, then spotted a whinchat, and then a wheatear, and just as I was heading home, turned to see a whole herd of fallow bucks, grazing with the ponies. They weren't too bothered about me, so I managed to get a few decent photos. Now, if they will all just stay in place for tomorrow's guests, that will do nicely!