Upon the Heath

This lonely Silver Birch tree stands tall upon the heathland of The New Forest. It's perhaps not commonly known that The New Forest in Hampshire is actually approximately 50% heathland, which is made up of dry heathland and lowland heath (one of the rarest habitats in the British Isles). The remaining part of the forest is deciduous woodland. This heathland is incredibly important to wildlife though, and as well as many rare bird species, the New Forest contains all 3 native species of snake to Britain; the Adder, Grass Snake and the very rare Smooth Snake.

As I was visiting this area in early January, snakes were not really something I had to watch out for, though this is perfect habitat for them in during the summer months. The good thing about sunshine in the winter months is the sun does not reach very high in the sky and dips quite quickly. This was taken at about 3pm and already the sun was not too far off the horizon, hence it's a great opportunity to capture some great colours and patterns in the sky, without staying up all evening. I took many different shots of the sun setting on this heath, but this is my early favourite so far.