Nature watch: July

Country Living online 30.06.2007

Observe the passage of adders, smooth snakes, sand lizards through heathland

smooth snake Out on the heathlands of southern Britain the sultry weather brings out the adder – it needs warmth to kick-start its sluggish metabolism, as does the non-venomous smooth snake and the endangered sand lizard. A more common sight are tiger beetles – emerald-green carnivores with fierce jaws – and grayling butterflies whose colours blend with the paths on which they bask; they settle with their wings folded, then keel over, reducing their shadow, so making themselves even less conspicuous. The open heaths of the New Forest are a favourite haunt of the hobby, a summer visitor from Africa. This dashing little falcon catches and eats dragonflies on the wing. And as dusk falls, another African migrant adds its voice to the scene: the nightjar with its purring cry. Brian Jackman

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