It’s been a cool and breezy start to summer which is perfect for me! I do love the light evenings and mornings, and as we approach the longest day, it’s great to take the dogs out for a walk in the evening, and it’s even better we can take a picnic with us.
This time there were lots of sheep in the fields so we had to keep the dogs on leads, but we walked past a big section in the corner of an arable field which was given over to flowers. As well as the daisies, there was common fumitory and clover and vetches, all good plants for birds, particularly Turtle Doves. The habitat on the Downs is suitable for these iconic birds of summer, and I really hope that the provision of their favourite foods, as well as the expanded hedgerows and nearby copses will encourage them to breed in this part of Sussex.
I took my Birds of the South Downs birdwatching logbook with me and was able to fill in a few new ones, namely a Corn Bunting, and a female Whitethroat, neither of which I’ve ever seen before. There were a lot of Wood Pigeons and Skylarks, and Carrion Crows and Jackdaws were enjoying the sheep fields. Here are my notes and a little sketch of the flowers:
I then did a larger gouache painting across two pages of my Beta sketchbook:
