Sights and sounds of summer

Wepham Down, West Sussex The drone of a small propellor aeroplane makes me look up in time to see a flock of a dozen black, scythe-shaped swifts

In spite of the sunshine, it is cool in the strong breeze that is blowing across the downs. Two combine harvesters are steadily working their way across the pale, bleached barley crops in the valley below. All around, the field margins glow with the shimmering whites, yellows and blues of summer flowers.

I walk uphill, watching the insects, including orange and brown gatekeeper butterflies and bright red soldier beetles on the thistles, daisies and cow parsley that line the bank along the track.

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