A day which started with two invites to BBQ's the first in the village of Elham promoting the work done in local woodlands for butterflies and encouraging us to buy locally produced charcoal. It was a good excuse too for a walk out of the village of Elham which sits in a very picturesque valley.

I had looked forward to doing this, the fifth walk to include part of the Royal Military Canal, for a long time as it starts in the village of Hamstreet and visits part of the nature reserve of Ham Street woods. The whole walk was really enjoyable from start to finish.

Knowing the local nature reserves and areas for watching wildlife like I do I knew that visiting all the places we did today would bring us some close and good encounters with wildlife and by the end of the day we felt quite privileged to be allowed to get close to the creatures we had.

I had the chance to spend some time in the Chilterns area, I enjoyed the day despite dodging some heavy showers while visiting Hartslock and Warburg Nature Reserves in Oxfordshire.

Another day spent in the Chilterns area when I found one Military orchid still in flower and also had great views of Red Kites above Watlington Hill.

A day visiting two locations one to see some Ermine Moths on a tree in Cobtree Manor Park in Maidstone and then to Queendown Warren Nature Reserve to try out my 18-200 lens that we'd just picked up from being repaired. As always it was a day of finding lots of intersting subjects to take pictures of.

This journal entry covers my visits to three different locations during the month of June looking for the orchids that grow there. Of course when I visit the places it’s not just the orchids I see; I always enjoy visiting the places I do and am always pleased to see anything of interest along the way. 

Our sixth walk taking in the Royal Military Canal started in the village of Warehorne, It was only a short one of three miles so we had a second walk in Ham Street wood too which was perfect for a hot day. The highlight of the day had to be seeing the colourful flowering plants on the canal especially at Bilsington Bridge..

A walk from our front door in Sandwich today takes us alongside the river Stour to Richborough Roman Fort. The history of the Roman Fort at Richborough is very interesting. It is thought that the Romans arrived at this location for the first time in AD 43 when the sea would have been 2 miles further inland than it is today.

My late June visit was timed perfectly to see the White Garden at its best with the rambling rose in full flower on the arbour. Many of the other gardens too were looking amazing with so much now in full flower.