MIKE DILGER’S WILDLIFE WATCHING

Few people outside conservation or ecology circles have heard of dry acid grasslands. But they’re among the best British habitats around. More or less confined to the warm southern lowlands, these are open, expansive places. They tend to be confined to nutrient-poor, free-draining soils lying above sandstone or sand and gravel deposits. As these substrates create an acidic environment, the soil pH plummets to between