Sunday afternoon in The Chilterns

We went for a walk this afternoon - what a wonderful view.

We saw a Brimstone butterfly and this Violet Ground Beetle. When it was scurrying around it looked like a blur of purple.

We stumbled across (and almost into) a badger's sett.

There were lots of orchids flowering - the Common Spotted Orchid and Early Purple Orchid. The leaves are almost as pretty as the flowers as they are covered in spots and look almost like animal skins.

Common Spotted Orchid

Early Purple Orchid

Probably a Common Spotted Orchid - Shows  how pretty their spotty leaves are

We also saw lots of ant hills covering the hillside, making the fields look almost spotty.

The dark shrubs you can see in the picture are Juniper. This was once common in the Chilterns, but is now scarce and is the subject of a conservation project.