We hope you all have had the chance to get out on to our stunning Derbyshire moorland to see the heather in full bloom at the moment and maybe spot a curlew or two.

We’ll start off with some of the wildflowers you saw last week with one which only opens its white flowers in the afternoon and which has declined due to the increase herbicides and fertilisers, the corn spurrey, which was seen near Melbourne. Nearby the yellow-flowered corn marigold which is thought to have been brought over to Britain with grain during the introduction of arable farming in ancient times was also spotted.

Some of our winged friends you’ve seen include a pale-yellow nocturnal swallow-tailed moth, which can have a wingspan of up to 6cm, which was sighted near Ilkeston, and mear Mansfield a flock of lapwings was spotted. The name lapwing is thought to derive from Old English term which describes the flickering black and white of the flock caused by the contrasting top and underside of their wings thought to be the source of their name.

We don’t always need to see an animal to know it has been there, sometimes they leave evidence behind, such as the hedgehog scat (or poo) seen in Derby. If you want to find out more about reading the signs that wildlife has left behind see the links below.

Identify poo: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife/how-identify/identify-poo

Identify tracks: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/how-identify/identify-tracks

As we inch closer to autumn we hope you’re making the most of the last weeks of summer and we look forward to reading about your wildlife sightings across Derbyshire. To submit your own sighting and be featured in a future blog go to www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife/record-sighting.

Thank you to Zoe Jackson, Jasmin Turner, Leila-May Smith, John Wood, Korina Newstead, Carey Russell, Myasotis Murno and Les for submitting your wildlife sightings.