Deciduous and herb-rich forests are calm, but not lifeless in the summer

Summer days in deciduous and herb-rich forests are quiet, shady and peaceful. However, if you stop to look around and listen for a moment, you’ll discover that there are plenty of creatures around.

Fledglings take their first, fumbling flight lessons, baby squirrels race along tree trunks, beetle larvae dig their tunnels in decaying wood and a branch cracks under the hoof of a roe deer somewhere further away.

Even the most unflinching, long-standing ancient oaks have life in them; their leaves are constantly photosynthesising energy for the tree, which it uses to grow and produce acorns and buds for next spring.