A field of poppies brightens up the route for people travelling the corner between Radley Road and Twelve Acre Drive.

The field escaped being built upon when outline planning permission for 55 dwellings was refused in 2013. Those were the days when a green belt could protect fields from being built upon. Reasons for refusal included:

• Inappropriate development in the Oxford Green Belt.
• Visually harmful development without a distinctive sense of place.
• Harmful impact on existing services and social infrastructure without enough compensating financial contributions.

There was a drowsy feel walking though the Abbey Fishponds in the late afternoon. Elders are in flower

as are roses.

There are marshy pools although some have overgrown with tall thick reeds.

By the stream and in the read beds were lots of yellow flags.

There were dragon flies and damsel flies flying over the ponds and resting sometimes on the reeds but not long enough for me to get a decent picture.

It is mid June and the longest day is June 21st. The first of the bramble blossoms are there and lots of insects, but fewer birds were apparent, and there was not much singing, in the heat.

Four cygnets feed on the pond weeds in the Mill Stream near the Abingdon Sword Bridge.

Seven Moorhen chicks on a log on the Mill Stream pick for passing food.

Near where the Mill Stream rejoins the River Thames by Nags Head Island, the island is covered by daisies and the young geese feed naturally on the grass.

The River Ock is a stream that flows along the Vale of White Horse, mostly through fields and villages, but for the last half mile, before flowing into the River Thames, there is a shady tree lined walk between the houses of Abingdon called the Ock Valley Walk.

There was a heron near the walk today.

The close season for catching fish in rivers runs from 15th March and until 15th June and has ten days to go. This allows the fish to spawn in relative safety and protect fish stocks.

The close season does not apply to herons. This one was waiting patiently, standing still and relying on stealth, quick reactions, and excellent eyesight to catch its next meal.

The bushes and trees along the walk are at their finest in early June. The leaves are fresh and green. Birds are singing in the canopy.

Birds sound so close but, most of the time, they stay well hidden from my not-so-good eyesight.

There are places where the fish can be easily seen in the fast flowing shallows, heading upstream.

They could be feeding on what they can filter from the water. The adults might even be spawning. The heron is at a safe distance away.