June continued to be a surreal month, living through Lockdown. Many of us had adjusted to the new ways, but at the same time, have been longing for a little more normality to return. However, I have to admit, personally, I will miss elements of full Lockdown - such as less traffic, and a generally more peaceful and less polluted world. It has given our planet a little time to breath again.

 

The bird song was noticeably louder through Lockdown, where background noise had dropped considerably - yet the Blackbirds in particular, continued to sing their heart out at their loudest volume ...even though were temporarily not having to compete with general background noise, which would usually be much noisier - even at dawn, when the first of the commuters head to work.

 

It was a wonderful month to spot young Deer fawns with their mothers, which I often spotted early morning, in meadows of long grass or around the edges of crop fields. There was the usual spate of baby bunnies emerging at dawn, and always ensure that I drive with caution along the country lanes when venturing out - more so when at dawn, due to being peak time when the baby bunnies are hopping out from the verges and hedgerows. And also see numerous Blackbirds swooping low, from one side of the road to the other. Plus you never know when a Deer might jump out into the road. Plus I often spot the odd little rodent scampering across the lanes too ...even a cheeky Stoat too, if really lucky.

 

It was certainly a good month for Poppies - both the red ones and the lilac Opium Poppies. I was fortunate to be able to visit several locations, to view both colours. Is timing it just right, when they are at their best, as such delicate flowers and the petals do not last long if the elements are harsh - and sadly, we did see a fair amount of heavy rain, as well as lots of wind, which meant that the Poppy flowering period got shortened. Nevertheless, I managed to fit in several outings, including at sunrise and sunset, so could capture them in different light. The lilac ones are harder to photograph, where such a pale colour - so I prefer the photograph them during the golden hours. I struck lucky one morning, when visited one location (which a farmer had kindly given me permissive access to), as captured a lovely Roe Buck wading through the lilac Poppies, just with its head peeping over the top. And then a little bit after, saw a Hare venturing around the edge of the field, then it paused briefly, looking pretty next to the Poppies. Magical, and both encounters made for enchanting, summery scenes.