Stock Doves on St Mary's Church roof

Stock Doves are my favourite member of the pigeon family. They are uncommon and very shy but give themselves away by their loud "oooooouuuuuhhhhh" call which is far reaching and atmospheric. They are found mainly in the woods but in some areas will nest in church towers or in large trees in church yards if these have holes in them. This most beautiful of doves is a tree hole nester and is therefore a rare bird and probably declining. I was lucky to find a pair perched on a church roof in Wantage.

Male Common Blue At Wood Lane Heath

Ah, What Beauty....at your finger tips now.....look down look down.... A Male Common Blue....

Redshank, Curlew and Whimbrel

Here are three of my favourite birds....wow...what a trio....all present on the Pagham Marshes NOW!!!!!

Two of our rarest and most beautiful butterflies are now flying

The small blue is our smallest butterfly as you can see from my photo. They are small and amazingly hard to follow as they dash from leaf to leaf. Small Blues are also amazingly local, often being found only in an area of a few square feet, centred on the food plant which is kidney vetch. The Duke of Burgundy is our smallest and fastest fritillary, moving almost faster than the eye can follow. Males often bask with their wings open. Sadly they are fast heading into extinction and colony after colony is vanishing never to be seen again.

Ebernoe Wild Wood

Ebernoe Common, West Sussex, is an amazing place and one of the most beautiful and wildest forests I have seen in England. It really is an ancient woodland and is a stunningly beautiful place. It is home to numerous rare plants and animals and birds and has the feel of a very special place. Visit it if you can......but beware, it is not an easy place to find and it is an easy place to get lost in....when you are there look out for wood whites, goshawks and yellow archangel....and painted lady butterflies....

The Wild Service Tree is in Flower

One of our rarest wild trees is now beginning to flower. The Wild Service Tree is one of our very rarest and most beautiful trees with its large toothed leaves and lovely blossoms. The fruit it produces in autumn is rather similar to a small brown pear. Very tasty. Sadly the tree itself is extremely rare and is an indicator of ancient woodland, itself a scarce thing. There may be as few as 300 wild service trees in England.

An adder and a smooth snake in Surrey

The smooth snakes are active now..... This most secretive of British reptiles is sometimes seen basking in the heather on the Surrey Heaths but it is a rare and vanishing sight and the species is classified as endangered in Britain with possibly as few as 700 individuals remaining. Any possible sightings should be reported to the Herpetological Conservation Trust (Bournemouth) who will check out the reported sighting and try to verify it. Some smooth snakes are pale and others are dark and do their best to mimic the adder.......smooth snakes eat other reptiles so are rarely found near adders or grass snakes.....