Rainy day snails

What do you do on a rainy Sunday? You go and look for snails of course! Pulpit Hill is a favourite spot for the huge Roman Snails. Their shells are about the size of a golf ball and they tend to be white or pale brown and they always have very pale bodies. Apparently they're edible, but I can't imagine eating a great big snail like that (not that I've ever felt the need to eat a snail!) They're Britain's biggest snail and only really found in the Chilterns, so are a protected species.

#100DaysOfNature #Day18

There were also lots of these smaller snails with a flattened shell.
I think these are called Copse Snails

A Roman Snail next to a Copse Snail (for size comparison)

We also saw a couple of fungi in the woods and some Bellflowers and Gentians out on the grassy slopes.

Bell Flower



Gentian -  I'm not sure if this is Autumn or Chiltern
Gentian, as it's quite hard to tell when the flower isn't open.

It was much too wet and windy for the butterflies, but we found a few trying to keep dry, like this Chalkhill Blue.