July is a great month to explore the British countryside and coastline, from the New Forest and Exmoor National Parks, through the sandy beaches of Norfolk and Northumberland, to the mountains of Scotland and the Northern Isles, so this month we focus on the wildlife, plants and landscapes of our popular holiday regions. Visitors to Shetland may see skuas pursuing Arctic terns, as well as black guillemots, puffins and many nesting waders. On the high tops of the Cairngorms ptarmigan and mountain hare are well camouflaged amongst granite boulders, and in Highland lochs and rivers young ospreys and red-throated divers are learning to fish. Migratory butterflies arrive from southern Europe - painted ladies feed on thistles and knapweed and in some years the exotic clouded yellow is quite widespread. Purple emperors and swallowtails are also on the wing, our two most spectacular native butterflies. On Dorset heathlands the rare sand lizard is active and Dartford warblers call from gorse bushes, while glow-worms advertise for mates in areas away from artificial light and nightjars churr on warm evenings. Kestrels, little owls and barn owls are busy feeding on small rodents which abound in cornfields and pastures. In Scottish forests pine martens are on the lookout for young red squirrels, and around the coasts the sharp-eyed may glimpse fishing otters and sea eagles.

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