Towards the end of May much of the Rights of Way network reopened to the public. However, much of the Downs are still inaccessible, with numerous farms and areas where footpaths and bridleways cross fields with livestock still closed - hopefully for not too much longer.(Expected to reopen June 8th-10th, Ed.) It's important that dogs are kept on a lead when anywhere near livestock and any contact with livestock and deer is avoided still.

The Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi)

One deer that has adapted to this country well, despite its origins in China, is the Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi). Like many unusual plants and animals now flourishing in this country it escaped from private collections. These often-secretive deer will frequent gardens and eat prized plants, especially roses. Both male and female deer have antlers and also have very sharp long canine teeth, which they use in defence against predators. They are much smaller than our Fallow or Roe deer and have a large white bushy tail that is quite visible if you see them running away from you. At this time of the year their young are left well hidden from predators whilst the mother goes in search of food.

The Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera)

This month you may be lucky to see more than one variety of orchid.

The Fly Orchid (Ophrys insectifera)

The Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera), is an orchid that mimics the shape of a female bee with the intention to attract male bees to mate with it and pollinate the flower. The Fly Orchid (Ophrys insectifera), uses the same technique for pollination although it attracts wasps.

Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamtis pyramidalis)

The vibrant pink petals of the Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamtis pyramidalis), resemble the shape of a pyramid, hence its name.

The Green-winged orchid (Orchis morio)

The Green-winged orchid (Orchis morio) is so named because on close inspection you will see green veins in the flower. The Bird's-nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis), is an interesting light brown flower, which is found usually under a heavy canopy within beech woodland, but sometimes under hazel or oak.This unusual looking plant derives its name because of the thickly matted root system it has that resembles a bird's-nest.

The Bird's-nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis)

Another flower associated with this month is the rose and in the countryside there are a variety of wild ones. From the Tudor Period this plant has been used as a royal emblem to symbolise England. One of the more common ones is the pink flowered Dog rose (Rosa canina) which is often found growing in hedgerows on a variety of soils.

Field rose (Rosa arvensis)

Another common species has a pure white flower and is known as the Field rose (Rosa arvensis) and despite its name it is often found growing in woods. The rose hips that will form later in the year have long been known to have two properties. The first is the inner seeds of the hip cause severe itching if brought in contact with skin and for many years children have used it on each other as "itching powder". However, the most useful property this plant has, is that the hips orange-red outer pith is full of vitamin C. During the last two world wars the rosehips were collected en masse to be made into rosehip syrup, to make up for the lack of fresh fruit available during those hard times.

Next month, July, I will be talking about insects and arable weeds.