There really aren't many things that can beat a walk through the ancient woodlands west of Peterborough at this time of year. Photos taken at The Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs & Northants Old Sulehay Forest reserve.

Crete Day 6: A change in weather as we drove west towards the White Mountains saw us stop in at the imposing Venetian fortress of Rethymno, overlooking a wave lashed coast, and the ruins of the Roman city of Aptera with its huge vaulted cisterns and abundant endemic Wall Lettuce.

Crete day 7: A cold start up on the Omalos Plateau brightened to reveal sheets of Tulipa saxatilis and Crown Anemone in ungrazed fields along with subtly striking Widow Iris. Higher on the slopes we a grove of ancient endemic Cretan Elm. Distant views of Lammergeier were a bonus!

Great to see plenty of the Nationally Scarce dung beetle Liothorax plagiatus under litter on the dunes at Natural England Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe NNR last weekend. Small, dark and easy to overlook.

A bit of a surprise to find a huge colony of Colletes cunicularius on a pulverised fuel ash bank just outside Doncaster yesterday. They really are expanding! Last time I saw it they were still restricted to W coast dunes and a scatter of sites in the S. BWARS Steven Falk

Finally saw the Aurora Borealis tonight. In Peterborough. Wasn't expecting that...

At the very end of a trip to the Sefton Coast, we finally caught up with a colony of freshly emerged Northern Dune Tiger Beetle - sunbathing, catching insects and cooling down in the shade of marram. Wonderful... Dynamic Dunescapes Buglife Natural England

A belated Crete day 8: A anniversary walk up the stunning Agia Irini Gorge, Monkey Orchids at the bottom, Cretan Cyclamen on the way up and a roadside stop for Cretan Ebony - a competitor for my favourite Fabaceae - on the way back to the hotel.

Crete day 10: Back towards the coast for some herping. Finally got some decent views and photos of Cretan Water frog behind the beach, sunbathing Balkan Green Lizards showed nicely and the pond by our accommodation was alive with calling Common Treefrog. Striking little fellas!

Crete day 11: One final stop before home: the arid and tautological Akrotiri Peninsula. Old olive groves around Agia Triada Monastery were draped in the strikingly alien Dragon Arum - one of Europe's best plants. Cretan Small Heath and confiding Chukar provided a nice send off.

A late season in the Cevennes with fine displays of many orchids inc. Lady orchid, Aymonin's Ophrys, Military and Burnt orchid Wildlife Travel Parc national des Cévennes Cévennes Tourisme

Gorge du Tarn and Causse Mejean wonderful landscapes with exceptional flora, fauna, geology & speleology! Wildlife Travel Philip Parc national des Cévennes

A pair of very special orchids for the wildflowerhour #orchidchallenge. Fly Orchid and Bird's-nest Orchid are only known from a single site near Peterborough, and this year I only found a single spike of each... BSBI: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland

This is a first for me. An Adder and a Grass Snake happily basking together. Initially very confusing seeing an Adder's head apparently attached to the body of a large Grass Snake! Amphibian and Reptile Conservation

A "perfectly adequate" first day in the Vercors leading the Wildlife Travel trip... 20 orchid species the stars amongst a wealth of other wonderful plants and invertebrates

There was quite a mothy theme during today's Wildlife Travel meanderings in the Vercors, with both BB & NB Bee Hawkmoths, Drab Looper, Frosted Yellow, Black-veined Moth, Lead Belle, Lace Border, & Oleuthrethes arcuella appreciated alongside those species pictured below #TeamMoth

anyone fancy blue skies and botany in November? Join Sarah Lambert in Cyprus for a relaxed week of autumn bulbs and ancient history wildlife-travel.co.uk/europe/cyprus-…

Looking forward to leading this relaxing autumn break for Wildlife Travel...sunshine, botany, archaeology and more - beats November in the UK...