Day 31 Skylarks and adder's tongues...

If you go down to the woods today ........... you might just hear the wonderful song of a skylark, particularly if you are at Lower Woods in South Gloucestershire. Situated next to Inglestone Common with it's wonderful open grasslands, this area combines some very special habitats in a very small space. It's not just skylarks you may hear, but also chiff chaffs, song thrushes, willow warblers and blackcaps. Follow the links to the excellent RSPB site where you can hear the call of all these birds. If you have a smart phone, there's also a very good app called Birds UK that you can download which will help you to identify birds and their calls when you're out and about.

We recently took a class of students from Hawkesbury Upton primary school on an adventure here to discover the delights of the Common. Pupils learnt about the history of the common, identified some of the wildflowers, made tiny nature collages and learnt some native bird song, you can find some of the activities and games we played here.

Inglestone Common is one of only two places in the whole country where you can find the rare Adder's-tongue spearwort plant which grows on the edge of the seasonal pond.It is part of the buttercup family and particularly favours ponds that dry out and are trampled by livestock around the edge. The other known site is also in Gloucestershire.

Lower woods is also a lovely place to explore but bring your wellies as the woodlands rise out of damp, clay soil so can get very muddy, perfect for spotting animal tracks and trails. See if you can find deer, badger or hedgehog tracks.

Day 30 - Wildlife in the City with wagtails, toxic plants, eco homes and common mouse-ear

You may think that Bristol city is generally full of noisy traffic, man made buildings and lots of people but use our wildlife walk around the city to explore a different side to urban life. Discover hemlock water dropwort along the old dock walls, it's the most toxic plant in Britain and is also known scarily as Dead Man's fingers. See if you can find the hart's tongue fern, named after the old English name for a deer (hart) and said to represent the deer's tongue which hangs out after death. Look too, for the pellitory-of-the-wall, not a particularly distinctive plant but an important food source for the red admiral butterfly. Away from the river, lurking amongst the grass, you can find the wonderfully named mouse-ear hawkweed, which looks a bit like a dandelion and extracts of which are said to have anti bacterial qualities. See if you can also find bird's foot trefoil, with it's pretty yellow and orange flower and another very important food source for butterflies.

It's not only amazing plants that you can discover on this walk, look out for otter footprints, butterflies, slow worms and a whole range of invertebrates, such as shield bugs, grasshoppers and crickets in the grasslands too.The river is also an important habitat for bird life and if you're lucky you may well spot a cormorant or heron, the black and white pied wagtail, ducks, swans and lesser black baked gulls.

If you fancy a break from all this wildlife spotting, why not visit the Create centre on route. They have a great eco home for you to look round, full of suggestions on how to make your own house more environmentally friendly and a lovely wildlife garden too. There is currently an architecture exhibition on called Retrofit City, looking at the green use of buildings around Bristol, plus an exhibition examining Bristol's green history

If all this wildlife has inspired you then download Bristol's Big Wildlife Map to discover more wonderful places to explore nature around the city centre and beyond. You could write your own blog to let your friends and family know what you've been up to on your adventures (and if you do, be sure to let us know about it too!).

Day 11 : Wildflower and Butterfly walk at Dolebury Warren

Walk through the rolling meadows of Dolebury Warren near Churchill taking in the stunning views across the Mendips. To discover all the best bits about this reserve in summertime download this walk which will make sure you don't miss any of the highlights which include an iron age hill fort, a medieval rabbit warren, prime viewpoints and meadows brimming with unusual wildflowers and rare butterflies.

You can help butterflies by stopping off along the way to do the Big Butterfly Count survey - just download this easy butterfly spotting sheet and find a spot to relax, you'll be amazed at how many butterflies pass you by in just 15 minutes! (don't forget to submit your butterfly count online later).

It's also worth keeping an look out for buzzards which are often seen soaing over the slopes of Dolebury Warren and the surrounding Mendips.

For directions and details about this special Avon Wildlife Trust nature reserve click here.