We frequently end our daily walk with a ramble along the slopes of Shute Shelve hill. Ngaio spotted this Oak-Egger moth which we thought to be a traffic casualty but later realised that it was newly-pupated. The extreme close-up reveals a remarkably Bambi-like appearance.

The apple tree growing wild at the foot of Axbridge Hill provides food for the wildlife right through until January. This year's apples are just starting to turn red. Growing nearby is a patch of bright yellow toadflax amidst a purple drift of wild thyme.

A day trip to Devon to catch up with Ngaio's brother Dan, his wife Elke and their daughter Fiona, taking a brief holiday. Dan, with an unerring sense of irony chooses to stay near a place called Chipshop, so we are to meet at the Chipshop inn for lunch and then on to sample the delights of Dartmoor.

Dartmoor is another place which gives one a great sense of space and a feeling of being on the top of the world.

This stallion foal was full of himself, winnying winsomely and prancing around like a big girl's blouse, immediately capturing all female hearts in the vicinity.

This is probably some extremely well-known and completely over-photographed hillock but we intend to return, with proper cameras.

Just before Winscombe tunnel is a cutting with near-vertical 30ft high rock walls, richly decorated with ferns. Further out, the walls turn into steeply-sloping earth banks, ideal for the rabbits and several families of shrews which live in holes in the bank. Occasionally, if you stand very still for a while, the shrews will venture out and scuttle around the bank, quite oblivious to you. Ngaio decided to call this place "Shrewsbury".

Where the railway used to cross the A38, there is a fine stand of wild clematis, cascading down over a hawthorn. I took this looking upward into the cascade, the glossy leaves are reflecting the sky.

Today was a genuine butterfly bonanza. The clouded yellow was high up on the slope of Shute Shelve Hill, sharing airspace with a squadron of Common Hawker dragonflies. We'd glimpsed a couple of Clouded yellows up at Charterhouse but they are strong fliers and were soon out of sight. Fortunately, this one wanted a rest and gave me ample opportunity to take a photograph. They are most frequently migrants but it is believed that some may now be resident.

The brown argus, the late brimstone and the blue were all on the trackside of the old railway.

The weather continues fine, most of the early summer wildflowers have finished blooming, now we have the mid- to late-summer varieties such as this Red Bartsia.

This splendid ash in the middle of the meadow is obviously providing welcome shade.

A fairly clear day, so I took the opportunity to capture this sweeping sky over the landscape to the east, overlooking Axbridge towards Cheddar and, 11 miles distant, Wells.

We frequently take a stroll around Kings Wood as part of the walk. The wood has some splendid trees and is nearly always full of birds. The dappled light on the woodland floor is a continued source of delight.

This time through we see a Speckled Wood butterfly, at rest on some bracken.

It had been a while since Ngaio had been up to Wavering Down and, as the day was fine and sunny, we decided to extend the walk to Wavering Down.

It's intriguing how a slight shift in angle changes the tone of a photograph. In the image to the left, we are a detached, remote observer yet in the image to the right we share the view and a degree of intimacy.

This is what Ngaio was contemplating - that's Brean on the coast and on the horizon is Foreland Point, some 50 miles distant.

Paula and the family came down to stay along with their dog, Jack. We took a trip up to Charterhouse where the heather was in bloom and looking lovley. And Jack had a great time, running around and rooting through the undergrowth.

Making our way back to the car from the beech grove, Jack suddenly became very interested in a patch of ground, on closer inspection we found that he had disturbed an adder who had shown great restraint given Jack's persistent nosing about.

I'm happy to report that both Jack and the adder were harmed during this encounter. Whilst Paula checked that Jack was unbitten, I watched the adder from a respectful distance. It played dead, holding it's body was rigid and mainly belly-up though it did keep it's head raised. It held this frozen posture for about a minute before making a very hasty exit disappearing into a clump of grass.

Woodland Fungi

In their "Introduction to Fungi", the Offwell Woodland & Wildlife Trust say : "In Britain there are more than 20,000 species of fungi. Most of these are microfungi, too small to be easily noticed. Approximately 3,000 are macro (large) fungi." Here are two examples of fungi seen in Kings Wood.

The first, which I have yet to identify, is tiny, not much more than 1cm in height and was found fruiting along side a beech tree root. The second is a bracket fungus. A pristine specimen, with russet tones spreading out to it's creamy edge set against the rich browns of the deeply textured tree back and "verdigris" lichen.

A further extension of the walk up through Kings Wood leads on to the slopes of Cross Plain where the white park cattle are now roaming freely over the slopes, helping to maintain the downland ecosystem. This cow has the typical black nose and black woolly ears. Although the horns look formidable, this breed is noted for its placidity and they are extremely tolerant of walkers' excited dogs. We frequently continue on the short amble up to Wavering Down in order to enjoy the extensive views from the Ordnance Survey trig point.

On the return part of our usual walk, we often take in the lower slopes of Shute Shelve Hill and drop down to the town by way of Back Lane. This is more of an alleyway than a lane, about 6ft. wide, bordered by stone walls and not only affords fascinating glimpses of adjoining gardens and, on a late summer's evening with the sunlight slanting in from the west, gives an intimate view of the town's rooftops.

Summer may be drawing to a close, but we are still enjoying warm, sunny days and there is still plenty to see. A fabulous Comma butterfly caught our attention as is feasted on fermenting blackberries, it's colouring was outstandingly rich. And once again the dragonflies are out in number. A cascade of Old Man's Beard (clematis seed heads) overhanging a berried hawthorn does lend a slightly more Autumnal feel to the walk.

The oil retort house that stands close to the beach at Kilve is a relic from the 1920's when oil extraction from the oil rich shale beds took place. The process proved too costly to make it profitable and the enterprise was abandoned, leaving us this rather quirky looking structure, whose chimney appears to be venting ivy.

The beach itself is a treasure trove in so many ways. A mix of dark brown sand, large sea-rounded stones and "pavements" of oil shale, sandstone and limestone, backed by eroded cliffs make compelling and often abstract photographic subjects.

The many fossils that are to be found here, including Ammonites, Cockle shells and Gryphaea (Devil's toenails, a genus of extinct oyster), tell of a time when these rocks formed part of a Jurassic sea bed.

A walk along the cliff tops accompanied by the ever present gulls affords some wonderful views down on to the beaches.

On a walk through the woods Graham drew my attention to some flowers that we had not seen before, which turned out to be Meadow Saffron. Given their appearance, it came as know surprise to learn that they are also known as Autumn Crocus, though their other name of Naked Lady did raise an eyebrow. The latter appellation comes from the fact that the flowers emerge from the ground long after the leaves have died back. It's location in the woods was also a surprise, as the plant is usually found in wet meadows on clay soil, having seen other images of the plant, the ones we saw in the woods do seem a little pale and "leggy".