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 10 : Balloons and birdsong for breakfast

You've probably already noticed that there's a Hot Air Balloon Fiesta going on in Bristol with nightglows and fireworks at Ashton Court between Thursday 9th and Monday 13th of Aug. It's all FREE to attend and further details can be found here.
Each day over 100 balloons make fly over Bristol towards Bath at 6am and again at 6pm. As they can be enjoyed practically anywhere along that route why not make a magical experience of this spectacle by getting up with the larks and taking breakfast in the local park as you watch all the balloons gracefully pass overhead. You'll also catch some of the dawn chorus, to know which birds you can hear check out this guide to birdsong from the Guardian.
If getting up early is a horrible prospect then many local parks hold mass picnic events in the evening to watch the balloons go over - such as Perretts Park in South Bristol who have a fantastic view of Bristol and the balloons approaching.