Swifts

Swifts are an avian avatar of the season, bringing a little magic to our country as they spend the summer screaming around their nesting sites and patrolling our summer evenings in tight squadrons, before returning to Africa for the winter.

Swifts can be seen in quite a few places around our area, but they also need our help, and putting up a swift nest box is a great way to do that. 

How to tell the difference between swifts, swallows and martins

Viper's-bugloss

Viper’s-bugloss is a vibrant blue flower that blooms in late spring and summer, but where did it get its curious name?

'Viper' may refer to its spotted stem, which is said to resemble a snake's markings, or from the shape of its flowers, which look like the head of a snake. 'Bugloss' comes from the Greek meaning 'ox's tongue' and refers to the rough, tongue-shaped leaves.

It is found on chalk grassland and disturbed ground – and you can often spot it adding colour to roadside verges. The flowers provide food for a range of insects, including a number of bees and butterflies. Spend a summer’s day at Greenham Common near Newbury or Hitchcopse Pit near Abingdon to see what visits the vivid viper.

Ladybird larvae

Just like adult ladybirds, ladybird larvae are a gardener's friend, feeding on aphids. The larva above is of a 7-spot ladybird, but there are many others you might see too. They all form a pupa – just like a caterpillar does to become a butterfly – before the adult ladybird emerges.

Six-spot burnets

The six-spot burnet moth is a day-flying moth that flies with a slow, fluttering pattern. Look for it alighting on knapweeds and thistles in grassy places. It is glossy black, with six red spots on each forewing. 

The red spots of burnet moths indicate to predators that they are poisonous: they release hydrogen cyanide when attacked. Don't confuse them with another black and red day-flying moth, the cinnabar.

Mice

Mice of all stripes are in amorous mode at this time of year. Wood mice start breeding in March and carry on right through to the autumn, with females having numerous litters of four-to-seven babies – look out for them in woodlands like our Rushbeds Wood between Bicester and Aylesbury.

Harvest mice, meanwhile, which you can find at Chimney Meadows in West Oxfordshire, can get quite aggressive, and if a female gets fed up with a male chasing her, she may turn around and given him a sharp nip!

Chicken of the woods

We’re still a couple of months away from fungi season, but you may spot still spot chicken of the woods this month. This special species is actually a bright yellow bracket fungus that sprouts out the side of mature trees.

It gets its common name from the fact that some people say it has a similar texture to chicken when eaten: we don’t allow foraging on our reserves (and it’s always a risk to eat fungi in the wild), but there are numerous species which rely on it, including some specialist beetles which only feed on bracket fungi.

Look out for this sunny sentinel in mature deciduous woodlands like our Warburg Nature Reserve near Henley.

White admiral

Not a common garden visitor like the similar red admiral, the white admiral can be found in shady woodlands, clearings and rides in late summer. They have a distinctive black-and-white appearance – with a gingery-brown underside – and you’re likely to spot them nectaring on bramble flowers or laying their eggs on honeysuckle leaves.

This photo was recently taken by Assistant Ecologist Lou Reeve at Whitecross Green Wood near Oxford.

Rabbits

Who doesn’t love spotting rabbits hopping through long grass during a walk in the countryside? They were first introduced to the UK by the Normans for food and fur but are now a common sight for many.

Female rabbits, called ‘does’, produce one litter of between three and seven babies every month during the breeding season from January to July – that’s a lot of little ones to see this month!

Bog asphodel

As the name suggests, bog asphodel grows in damp, boggy areas and can be seen at heathland reserves including Wildmoor Heath and Snelsmore Common. The tall spikes of yellow flowers bloom in summer, and later in the year most of the plant will turn orange in colour as it produces reddish, egg-shaped fruits.

Dartford warbler

While you're at Wildmoor Heath, another wonderful species to look out for is the iconic Dartford warbler.

This small, slate and russet-brown songbird, with its striking red eye, depends on mature heathland habitat which we don't have a lot of in England: in the 1960s, there were only 10 pairs left in the UK. Today, there are about 3,200 pairs, and we are honoured to have them at Wildmoor Heath as well as Greenham Common. Look and listen out for them warbling their rattly and scratchy song from the tops of a gorse bushes.

How to help wildlife in July