Most apparent is the pheasant, a game bird, roaming across fields and gardens. In spring, flocks of young pheasants can be seen under the hedgerows, while in summer, the raucous sound of young males fighting can be heard. Kestrels and buzzards prey on small mammals that colonise the fields and riverbanks and occasionally, peregrine falcons, merlins and red kites can be spotted.

At night listen for the calls of tawny owls which roost in some of the village buildings. Grey and pied wagtails, flycatchers, yellowhammers and wrens are among the many species that enjoy the shelter and food the village provides. And in summer martins and swallows fill the sky with their insect-hunting flights. In autumn they gather in great flocks, chattering with anticipation until one day... they are gone, flown off to spend the winter in warmer climes.

In gardens, Welsh poppies peer out in yellow clumps from beside stone walls. In hedgerows nestle violets and celandine. In fields, harebells and foxgloves scatter themselves through the grasses, mixing with campions, knapweeds and orange hawkbit. Under the shelter of forest, bluebells add to the sights and scents of woodland.

Many types of fungi grow in the fields and behind hedgerows. Puffballs with their brown papery 'shell' spread clouds of spores, inkcaps drip black inky spores and bracket fungus grows on the remains of fallen trees.

Patient observers are rewarded with sightings of a number of wild animals. Badgers, foxes and hedgehogs may be seen when evening creeps in. Stoats and weasels hunt rabbits during the day. Look out for hares too, they are larger than rabbits and have black tips to their ears.