What wildlife and plants can I spot in Devon during summer?

Wildlife photographer David Chapman on what wildlife to spot in Devon in June.

The otter is never easy to see but just a glimpse makes the waiting worthwhile. Photo: David Chapman

Otter

Otters are never easy to spot but the best time to look is on a very calm early morning or late evening in summer. When the water is calm it’s easier to notice their ripples and they are always at their most active overnight so we need to look for them as close to darkness as we can see.

Otters can be seen in rivers, lakes even the sea and in garden ponds but larger freshwater lakes are always going to be best for them and those with reeds around the edge are great because they offer an escape route to a nervous otter. Slapton Ley, my location of the month, is one of the best places in Devon, another is the River Torridge near Weare Giffard, the location which inspired the novel Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson.

Shags nest around the coast of Devon on cliffs and rocky islands. Photo: David Chapman

Shag

Shags nest on rocky coastlines around Devon. Unlike the similar cormorant, shags have a crest during the breeding season which helps us to identify them. Watch them as they dive from the water’s surface and you can usually see that they jump to get enough force to submerge, in contrast cormorants simply slip under in a rather snake-like fashion. Adult shags have an iridescence to their plumage but youngsters born this year will start life brown before they gradually moult into adult plumage over the next couple of years.

Foxgloves flower during June and can commonly be found growing on disturbed ground. (c) David Chapman

Foxglove

In June we will be seeing foxgloves in flower. These are one of our most easily identifiable and striking of plants with very tall spikes of purplish-red flowers; they can be found growing in hedges, roadsides and on waste ground. The foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, is a poisonous plant but it is used in medicine, the drug digitoxin is still derived from the foxglove plant and is used to slow the heart rate. Ironically the name of the foxglove has nothing to do with the fox. Its flowers were thought to be used as gloves by fairies or little folks so it was first known as the folk’s glove until it was corrupted to the more popular variation.

To see more of David’s photography see davidchapman.org.uk