The oppressive heat of the last week, with the 30°C mark being breached yesterday and no doubt again today coupled with no rain is starting to be seen. The grass verges along the woodland paths and main grassland areas are tinged with yellow.

Highlight of the walk today occurred only 100 m onto the Downs when an adult Common Cuckoo flew across the path in front of me and sat high in tree a but with a good enough line of sight that I could make a positive ID. That is the first cuckoo I have seen since 2008! That one was a juvenile up in the Scottish Highlands. The one(s) I heard on 19^th/20^th May made it only the 3^rd year out of the 11 years that I have been walking here that I have even heard a cuckoo.

Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) and Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) butterflies were both quite prominent today.

I found one Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) plant with the upper part of the stem, partly opened leaf buds and unopened flower buds completely covered with a seething mass of apterous aphids nymphs of various ages. I suspect that these may be the Herb Bennet Aphid (Macrosiphum gei).

Latest plants to flower are Greater Knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa), Lady’s Bedstraw (Galium verum), Hedge Bedstraw (Galium mollugo), Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) and Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis).

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