Things to look for for in July.

A marbled white butterfly.

Bees are in their element during July, Look into brambles in any hedge row and you can see them going about their business. The buff-tailed bumble bee (bombus terrestris) is our largest bumble bee. Bumble bees have much thicker bodies than honey bees, they are hairier than honey bees as well. They pollinate flowers as they are foraging for food, They do this to make honey for the larva as they grow. The queen make her colony along the hedgerow during spring. She then lays her eggs in wax cells and eventually feeds the honey to her young. A honey bee will have up to 50,000 eggs in her colony whereas a bumble bee will have up to one hundred and fifty in their colony. Their are up to twenty eight species of bumble bees in Britain of which six are really struggling. July is a good month to see young birds of prey including common buzzards,kestrels and sparrowhawks. When you are walking through a wood or along a footpath look out for them in trees or sat on fence posts. They normally draw attention to themselves by constantly wailing for food from their parent birds. Young tawny owls can be seen in groups during the day in woodlands.

Hoverflies on a newly opened sunflower.

Pipistrelle bats can be seen at dusk, They have a very random flight and they are Europe's smallest bat. The pipistrelle bat is Britain's most commonest bat. Marbled white butterflies can be seen darting around long grass in meadows during July. They are black and white but are actually part of the brown family. The marbled white is unusual because she lays her eggs while flying(Ringlet butterflies also do this). The grasses they are hoping the egg will land on is either cocks-foot or sheep's fescue, When the caterpillar emerges they eat around the grasses, They then hibernate from autumn onwards and reemerge during February and form a chrysalis in June or July, Then emerging as a butterfly during July or august. Stone chats can be seen in the heathland calling out chat,chat whoeet which is their alarm call. The stone chat calls its name when it calls out, It sounds like flint stones being jarred together. Wheatears, whinchats, yellowhammers and skylarks may be seen in heathland or meadows during July. Sky larks have an amazing sustained song flight, The skylark will sing on the wing while hovering, It will also sing while rising from the ground or while returning to the ground. Its my favourite bird song, I have been lucky enough to watch skylarks on many occasions during the summer. Sky larks nest on the ground in short grass, Their chicks(The sky lark will have up to five) have evolved to grow short light green grass looking feathers on their heads, They do this for camouflage so they are protected at the mouth of the nest. Common blue damsleflies can be seen along slow flowing river beds during July, They have a very nervous looking weak flight because of their size. I have also seen them in my garden as well so you don`t have to go miles to enjoy wildlife. Knapweed,Field poppies, Lady's bedstaw, Yellow rattle and ox eye daisies can be seen moving in the wind in meadows in Worcestershire. Finally take a magnifying glass from your pack and go and find some long grass and have a look at what you can find.