We hope you all managed to stay cool and hydrated during the hot spell over the last few weeks, we’re certainly looking forward to a bit of cooler weather!

To start off what you’ve spotted over the last fortnight we have the Common Lizard in the High Peak which can shed its tail to distract a predator and regrow it later. Next has to be one of our most recognisable mammals and the gardener’s best friend, the European Hedgehog which seen near Belper. To the north in the High Peak a Water Shrew, which is one of the few mammals in the world to have a venomous bite, which it uses for hunting, was also spotted. From our largest shrew we move on to our largest falcon, the Peregrine, which can reach speeds of 200mph when diving on a hunt, which was seen near Heanor as was the Buzzard, another bird of prey who also uses diving but instead for attracting a mate.

Staying on the wing spotted near Burton upon Trent was our smallest woodpecker, the Lesser Spotted, the aptly named Greenfinch and the Chaffinch, which also known as the Bachelor Finch as whilst the females fly south for the winter the males stay in their breeding territories. You also spotted three species of moth, the Elephant Hawkmoth named because of the trunk like appearance of the caterpillar, White Plume Moth and Emperor Moth which has peacock eyespots on all four its wings. Near Ashbourne two familiar species of butterfly were seen too, the Small Tortoiseshell and the Large White, also known as the Cabbage White because of its caterpillar’s food source which also makes them poisonous. Three other winged invertebrates spotted in southern Derbyshire, the smaller and more widespread Lesser Stag Beetle, the White-tailed Bumblebee and the Southern Hawker Dragonfly which catches its prey mid-air.

As we look forward to some cooler weather we are also looking forward to hearing about more of the awesome wildlife and plants you’ve spotted 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 Mark Hatch, Sharon Briddon, Sonja Bennett, Natalie Davenport, John Walker, Michelle Goldsmith, Paula Holden, Judy Gould, Richard Wayne, Jane Charters and Susan Ebbins for recording their sightings.