These pictures reveal the beauty of wildlife species across Oxfordshire

Among the treasures is the glorious purple Chiltern gentian.

This violet wildflower is one of the rarest in the UK and grows only at a handful of sites, almost all of them on the chalky Chiltern hills.

Some of the very best places to find them these days are BBOWT nature reserves, including our Dancersend site near Tring, Homefield Wood near Marlow and Warburg Nature Reserve near Wallingford.

The way to tell a Chiltern gentian from the closely-related autumn gentian is that the Chiltern’s flowers have charmingly wrinkled sides and a fringe of pure white hairs at the top, while autumn gentians are smooth with pinkish hairs.

The other plant that is in the pink at this time of year is heather.

A common blue butterfly. Pic: John Bridges

There are three species to look out for: heather or ‘ling’, bell heather and cross-leaved heath.

Heather is the classic heathland plant that turns heathland shades of purple and pink in August and September.

Bell heather has vibrant purple bell-shaped flowers and grows on drier parts of heathland.

Cross-leaved heath grows on wetter, boggier areas of heathland, where the soil is more acidic. The greyish-green leaves grow in groups of four, in a cross-shape up the stem, and the pale pink flowers form a cluster at the top.

Great heathland reserves to visit to see swathes of pinks and purples include

Greenham Common, Snelsmore Common and Wildmoor Heath.

Moving to another part of the spectrum, August is also a good month to see many of our blue butterflies flying.

Some, like the Adonis blue, are found in particular habitats, while others like the holly blue may be seen in your garden. Also look out for common blues and chalkhill blues.

Chiltern Genian flowers. Pic: Larry Stoter

A great place to spot blue butterflies is Bernwood Meadows, just a five minute drive out of Oxford to the north-east.

August is also often the last chance to see swallows and martins, as they gather in large flocks before they return to Africa for the winter. They’ll often perch in large numbers on telegraph wires, which makes a wonderful sight.

As summer progresses, the hedgerows become laden with ripening nuts and berries. Look out for hazelnuts, elderberries, sloes, haws and rose hips.

If you do a spot of foraging, remember to leave plenty for the wildlife that relies on these to see them through the autumn and winter.

Why not plant a fruiting and flowering hedge instead of having a fence or wall in your garden? One visitor you might attract is the six-spot burnet moth - a day-flying moth that flies with a slow, fluttering pattern. Look for it alighting on knapweeds and thistles in grassy places. It is glossy black, with six red spots on each forewing. The red spots of burnet moths indicate to predators that they are poisonous: they release hydrogen cyanide when attacked.

A migrant hawker dragonfly. Picture: Richard Burkmarr

Don’t confuse them with another black and red day-flying moth, the cinnabar.

The migrant hawker is a medium-sized dragonfly that may be seen feeding in large groups. It flies late into autumn and can be seen in gardens, grasslands and woodlands.

During the late summer, large numbers of migrant hawkers arrive from the continent, boosting the resident population.

The gatekeeper butterfly is also on the wing in summer: look out for the large, distinctive eyespot with two ‘pupils’ on each forewing.

It is a butterfly of grassland, hedgerows and woodland edges and can be seen feeding on wild marjoram, bramble and ragworts.

It’s similar to the meadow brown butterfly so look closely: the combination of bright orange wing patches, one large eyespot on the forewing and one smaller eyespot on the hindwing is unique to the gatekeeper.

To find out more about all of these species, go to bbowt.org.uk.