A real treat in the garden this morning, in the form of a pair of Bullfinches, the first time that we've seen them in our garden. They came in to have a share of the seeds that we put out (and were soon joined by some sparrows) then they took a quick drink from the bird bath and were off.

It was of course the male how caught my attention, his bright reddish-pink feathers are really eye-catching. We see them reasonably often whilst out walking, but due to their shy natures, this is usually at a distance or as a snatched glimpse. More often than not it's their quiet piping call that alerts us to their presence. So to get this sort of a view of them was a pleasure.

After what proved to be a very wet May, some sunny weather is more than welcome. And whilst we haven't exactly enjoyed the persistent precipitation, the vegetation seems to be thriving. Everything is so lush and green and flowers are blossoming everywhere, as this shot of the Big Field alongside the old railway line demonstrates.

On the bank next to the horses' field there are a couple of fine examples of native English roses: a dog rose (Rosa canina) and a sweet briar rose (Rosa rubiginosa) intertwine in a tangle of white and delicate pink blossoms.

At the far end of the walk, Slader's Leigh demonstrates exactly why this rare fragment of "unimproved grassland" is so valuable - it is covered with spotted orchids, including this splendid example, standing tall amongst the long grasses.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Bullfinches have been making regular appearances, feeding from the ground, taking a drink and then zooming off again. We thought that they and the other ground feeders were too vulnerable to predation from the cats which keep visiting our garden, so purchased small hanging bird-table. This paid off almost immediately. One of the first visitors to the new table was the Mrs B, Mr B looked on from the fence, (he does seem to be the more cautious of the pair). However, after some time observing he joined her for lunch

Situated in the Polden Hills, Collard Hill, is one of the sites for the re-introduction of the Large Blue Butterfly. We've been intending to pay a visit here for quite a while and having checked the NT's Large Blue Phone-line, took advantage of a rare a break in the lousy weather to pop over there.

We did get to see several Large Blues, but due to the blustery weather conditions, photographing them was not possible. However, other photo-opportunities did present themselves. The walk to Collard Hill from the near by car park took us past a traditional travellers encampment (bow-topped, horse-drawn caravans) with not a single motor vehicle to be seen.

And from the top of the hill the views are quite delightful. The combination of the flat lands of the levels interspersed with gently rolling wooded hills is very special and typify the Somerset landscape. And the rich vegetation provided other items of interest, a most thorny rose stem; the deep red thorns on the bright green stem made an eye catching combination. And not from that particular stem, a perfect Briar Rose.

A rabbit's life in the wild can be very brief; predation and disease are an ever-present threat. However, over the past three years, we have seen at least one rabbit family succeed at beating the odds.

Three years ago, amongst the population of rabbits in the field adjoining the Strawberry Line, we noticed a two-toned rabbit (BF). It was noticeable because of its brown body, white face, shoulders and flanks, possibly the result of an escaped domestic rabbit breeding with one of the wild rabbits. Over the years, it has become clear that this rabbit had produced offspring which we deduced from the appearance of a young white-faced rabbit with white shoulders (BFII). The most recent addition to the BF family (BFIII) has a white face and one white shoulder.

Why BF? Well, I do have a bad habit of naming animals that we see on a regular basis, BF stands for Bumface - very base, I know, but I just thought that when you see a rabbit running away, their white tail (scut) is very noticeable. So from a rabbit's point of view a white-faced rabbit....

We have developed a sneaking suspicion that the Bumface family are aware that they stand out from the crowd. They are the first to dash to cover at the approach of perceived danger (us), so getting a photograph has proved a challenge. So far this (of BF III) is the best I've managed. Pitiful isn't it?!

Mrs B continues to lead the way. She was first at the new bird table and has now taken to the seed feeder - clever girl!

Some visual records from one of our daily walks along the old railway line.

On an outcrop of limestone, right next to the road leading up the hill is a large patch of English Stonecrop that is now just coming into bloom. On the roadside a little further on is a large bunch of Ox-eye daisies that have been dazzling us regularly over the past week or so. Along the side of the railway path in the long grass, one of the many crickets is prepared to pose for a close-up, you can clearly see the ladder of segments down the side of the rear leg, rubbing these together creates the characteristic "chirrup". At the edge of the path, where the grass is shorter, Long-stalked Cranesbill brighten the border, the flowers are roughly the same size as Speedwell, about 1cm across. The last image is a Robin's Pincushion. It isn't a flower, although it might be mistaken for one, it is a dog rose gall, produced by the gall wasp Diplolepis rosae to give protection to its larvae. This one is from last year, they start off green and only acquire their red colouring in autumn.