NATURE NOTES

Monthly highlights to look for by TOM BAILEY – Trail’s four-season photographer

HOUSE MARTIN

One June morning up in Scotland I witnessed House Martins hoovering up midges, and since then I’ve loved this little bird with all my heart. Swallow-sized, but with a white rump (patch above the tail), the most impressive thing about these birds are their nests, which are fashioned out of mud and cling to the underside of the eaves of a roof. Before houses, House Martins nested on crags. The only place in the country where you can still see a natural House Martin nest colony is Malham Cove. Check it out.

BOG ASPIDOL

A lover of damp bogs, this plant is found in the northern and western areas of Britain and on heaths in the south. From late June to July the flower stem has a yellow flowered head. Once pollination has taken place the flower head then changes to orange. The flowers turn into seed heads which are still visible through late summer into early autumn. Knowing this plant helps you plan a route, as it grows in wet conditions. If you start to encounter it then change your course, unless you want wet feet!

COMMON LIZARD

High in the moors of our mountain regions, the Common Lizard’s mottled browny-black colouring keeps it camouflaged. Like all reptiles it needs solar power, so your best chance of seeing one is as it scrambles away from you after you’ve disturbed its morning sun bath. Widespread throughout the UK, the males have an orange belly, the females lemon yellow. Living on such things as spiders and insects, lizards find a surprising amount of food in our high moorland.