Wolves Wild

In the middle of July, an almost full-grown coot chick standing between its parents, all of them grooming their feathers.

Acorns just beginning to develop on an oak tree, as they were in mid-July.

Last of the summer’s flowers on the buddleia bushes, but still attracting plenty of butterflies and bees.

It’s been a long, dry summer, so there haven’t been many snails visible and active. This pair had crawled on to a garden wall to mate.

A ringlet butterfly at rest on a plant growing by a quiet country lane. It’s lost quite a big segment of its wing. Perhaps it’s a male which has been fighting with other males, or possibly it managed to avoid an even worse fate in an encounter with a hungry bird.

Views when standing on the sea front at Dawlish Warren. Turning to the right, the distinctive sandstone arch of the Red Rock is only a few minutes walk away. in the farther distance, made pale by atmospheric haze, more coastal cliffs.

Turn to the right for the long stretch of Dawlish Warren beach with its row of groynes, and Exmouth beyond on the far side of the Exe estuary.