At the weekend we went for a walk through rural Nottinghamshire. The landscape was a mix of arable land and woodland. The horizon to the west was clear and we could see both the church we were married in and beyond that Crich Stand in Derbyshire.
The mix of wild and farmed land is great for the wildlife and those that want to spot it. We could see this herd of deer rooting around amongst the newly cut stubble.
At a bench we stopped for a while and I spotted this great Cereal Leaf Beetle (Oulema melanopa) eating away on a grass leaf.
I also spotted this unusual Stem-boring Fly (Opomyza germinationis). Apparently the insect folk over at Wild about Britain think this is an unusual specimen as it looks "under-marked on the thorax". I don't really know what that means but it was nice to see it anyway. We also got a glimpse of this Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) hovering over the fields. In the distance we could also see a buzzard being mobbed by two crows and for a while fighting back.
The day ended with this great sunset. Clouds beyond the horizon were casting shadows up into the night sky giving it that "sunny delight" look.
When you get out of the wood you end up back in farmland overlooking the pretty village of South Croxton. Here the wildlife is a little bit easier to see. 
Check out this Cereal Leaf Beetle (Oulema melanopa). I found a couple of these loitering on the grass stems near the edge of the field above. These little bugs eat grass leaves and so are disliked by farmers who grow grass related plants. Still I think he looks quite pretty. 
One thing that I like to do when walking around in the fields of Leicestershire is to sneak across field boundaries. That is, to silently slip over the fence and peak into the next field to see whats there before it has chance to run or fly away. Its surprising what wildlife you can catch off guard. Part of the path went through this conifer plantation. The rows of trees essentially cut off all view except for the line of trees at either side of you. As you move through the plantation a new row will open up and you can look down it. Again and again you go past row after row. Each new row was a new opportunity to sneak and peak to see what was hidden. 
Check this out. A Brown Hare (Lepus capensis). In fact there was probably 20 or so of them and I got some fantatic close encounters. Further along I stopped to look at the White Bryony(Bryonia dioica) growing in the hedgerow. At this time of year you can see the berries of this plant hanging in the bushes like red grapes, almost. 
This plant is one of those that I remember seeing back at infants school. As I remember there were only ever two plants that came onto my radar. Sticky plant and curly wurly plant. Well this is curly wurly plant. Let me explain, to help it climb it sends out little feelers that entwine other established plants and enable it to get a leg up. Check out these curly wurlies.
The last interesting thing that I saw was this bazaar looking Dancing Fly (Empididae empis).