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. I was struck by its bright iridescent green body and red head against the drab colours of the autumn sward. Like many non-ornithologists before me I was confused by the considerable lack of wood for such a bird to peck, way up on the chalk hillsides

was the best sun in ages and these lovely bugs have started to appear, just as they always do at this time of year, sunning themselves on the south-facing fence, and the leaves of the ivy growing all over it. They won't stay that colour for long, and I expect

.Down on the Rye everything is starting to look very autumnal and the leaves are building up into treacherously slippery mounds. The trees still hold some secrets though. In 1767, a 9- or 10-year-old William Blake saw an oak tree full of angels here. The angel oak

it has run a bit wild and it's a dumping ground for flower pots, buckets, pieces of wood that I once thought could be potentially useful for some reason, mildly interesting boulders found on family walks and all not very well hidden by a brightly coloured