August is a good month to look out for kingfishers because the chicks have left the nest and often disperse to new areas of water, such as gravel pits or ponds. The best time to spot one of these beautiful birds is early in the morning. Take a walk along a small river or stream and look out for the bird's bright blue plumage. Kingfishers are much smaller than most people imagine. They are barely larger than a sparrow! Kingfishers are expert hunters, seizing fish from under the water with their powerful bills. Listen out for the kingfisher's distinctive call - a high-pitched 'chee' or double-noted 'chee-kee'.

August is the best month to see harvest mice because this is when they weave their tennis-ball-sized nests about 45cm above the ground among plant stalks. The harvest mouse is Britain's smallest rodent, so small it weigh about the same as a 20 pence piece. The number of harvest mice in Britain declined due to changes in agriculture and land use. Now there are conservation schemes in place to give them a helping hand, such as providing artificial nests made from old tennis balls with a small entrance hole cut in the side. The harvest mouse is part of Leeds’s biodiversity action plan aiming to establish current population levels, increase public awareness and to conserve and increase local populations.

Dryad's Saddle is a fairly common bracket fungus which appears every year during the summer. It is called dryad's saddle because it looks like a seat for a woodland fairy or dryad (a wood nymph in classical mythology). Dryad's seat is a parasite of dead trees, favouring sycamore, beech, elm and ash. It has a yellowish upper surface with light brown scales and is white underneath. The brackets can reach a size of up to half a metre across. It smells like aniseed.

During the month of August keep a look out for Cinnabar caterpillars. They are easily spotted because of their bright gold and black stripes. This bold pattern warns birds and other predators that this species of caterpillar is extremely unpleasant to eat. Cinnabar caterpillars eat ragwort and groundsel so they are the best places to look for them.

Ragwort has bright yellow flowers and grows on roadsides, pastures and waste grounds. Ragwort provides a very important food source for many species of insect. The problem is that ragwort is poisonous to grazing animals such as horses, donkeys and cows. Therefore there has been a ragwort control act put in place to help to get rid of this plant - good news for grazing animals but is really bad news for all the insects that rely on ragwort as a valuable food source. It is important to balance the needs of wildlife and livestock. In areas far from grazing cattle ragwort should be left to grow wild.

The number of whirligig beetles on pond surfaces increases rapidly during August. Whirligig beetles are metallic black with orange legs. They are called whirligig beetles because they swim in circles on the surface of the water. Despite their fast, frenzied swimming they never collide into each other because they respond to vibrations that travel across the water surface. Their eyes are divided into two which allows them to see above and below the surface of the water at the same time.

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