Summer's last hurrah

I know, I keep going on about summer fading, but last weekend was beautiful and felt like it was trying hard to stick around!

We headed off to Old Winchester Hill National Nature Reserve, in the South Downs, for stunning views, some butterflies and fading flowers, and a yomp along part of the South Downs Way and Monarch's Way to the beautiful River Meon near Exton, then looped back. Although most of the flowers had gone over, the clumps of marjoram and scabious provided a last nectar source for the butterflies flitting about - small heath and meadow brown, but with a strongly-suspected sighting of an adonis blue too. It was very active, so I can't be certain, but from the bright azure hue, I can't think of anything else it could be (too bright for a common blue). They've declined dramatically over the decades, favouring south-facing slopes of short turf with horseshoe vetch - still some patches locally in the South Downs and Cranborne Chase thankfully. Our route took us next to a small overgrown pond, where we not only watched (or were being watched!) by a large, patrolling southern hawker dragonfly, but had a great view of a hornet too!

Not knowing what to do with a beautiful Sunday, we decided to brave a foray into the New Forest, to one of our favourite places, Bucklers Hard. despite the autojumble being on and filling the Motor Museum car park (!), the lovely footpath along the Beaulieu River to Bucklers Hard wasn't too busy at all. Last time we had completed the walk, there were signs warning us against attempting it, due to extreme flooding and mud, defying the lengths of boardwalk. We still did it, but yes, oh the mud! This time, not only was it very dry, but the sun shone on the sparkling water, as we watched boats pass by. Arriving in Bucklers Hard itself, it wasn't too busy there either, and we watched the sparrows in the bushes chomping on rose hips whilst we too chomped on our sandwiches. Even though it is a 'there and back' walk, I didn't mind at all, as the views were so gorgeous on the way back, with the sun still shining. We called into a tearooms for a bit of refreshment, to find an attached community garden called 'Paddy's Patch', filled with an abundance of fruit, veg and beautiful blooms, as well as another hornet - an excellent end to the day!