A different walk ... the other way ...

My last post (amongst other more important things) describes a walk we took on Tuesday (14th April).  Since then we've done that walk several times including today's (22nd April) ... but the 'other' way ... on another very warm day ...

Crossing Rotten Row we walk through the meadow towards Hambleden Village alongside the fast running ditch, turning up the lane to our right at the kissing gate

 This expanse of the ditch now holds a new family of mallards ... I can count 13 chicks here but they may have been more.

 We continue along the lane taking a right at the fork ... and start the climb up into the Chiltern hills

 through the gate (note the jumper goes into the wash as soon as we're home).

 The trees and hedges are coming into bud now but I don't recognise this one ... has anyone out there any idea please?

 Each day creates a different light as we walk through the bluebells

 Another plant I don't recognise ... it looks similar to lilac but smaller and doesn't smell like lilac ... any ideas?

After passing through the kissing gate we're out of the Hambleden Estate grounds onto Rotten Row ...  but what's that we can see up that tree up the bank?

 Chairs up a tree?  We think it's to watch or perhaps orchestrate pheasant shoots as we can see a high wire fence up the bank on the other side of the road and can hear pheasants there ... hopefully those birds will get a reprieve this year.

 The view down Rotten Row where the gradient is probably a 1 in 10 ... I'd much rather walk down this hill than up!  At the end of the lane by the houses we turn left back to the marina ...

where we met a much smaller mallard family in the mill stream.