It's so lovely to be able to get out for an evening walk again with my nature buddy Roz Tucker with her camera in hand.
The weather broke for us and the sun shone through the newly unfurled leaves turning them golden in the lowering sun.
Spring is definitely blooming with spurge, herb robert, wood anemones, stitchwort, wild strawberry and bluebells.
The bluebells are a good week away from their best, but still a joy to see as they create a purple haze through the depth of the woodland where squirrels scampered it the canopies.
As Roz and I always do, we wander where the nature takes us rather than the path and so glad we did. While Roz contorted herself to get the amazing pictures of flowering wild garlic and bluebells, we could hear the badgers chattering in their sett.
A little early to see them and not to disturb, we sat for a moment on a fallen tree while munching on garlic leaves and whispering with the trees.
Aware we were starting to lose the light, we meandered back amongst hazel and wildflower rides and identified bird calls as the sky started to turn moody with the sun hitting heavy rain clouds. Turning a corner we were greeted by two foxes trotting along the track before they changed direction and disappeared into the trees on our arrival.
Somebody a little less concerned about our quiet presence was a roe buck, happily grazing out in the open.
As we left the inclosure, the clouds weighed heavier with imminent rain and as we approached the heath we could see it was raining all around us but not directly on us. This seemed to enhance the vert landscape, but the short walk back to the car was with the visibility of only a few feet where the golden sunset started to move below the trees. When only a few footsteps from the car, the heavens opened and a rainbow appeared across the horizon. A very special walk.
Thank you Roz for the company and amazing pictures and thank you Mother Nature for your beauty and sunshine you shared with us.