Swallowtail
The exotic and beautiful swallowtail is the UK's largest butterfly. A strong flier, residents can be spotted over wetlands in Norfolk during summer. Migrants occasionally appear in southern…
The exotic and beautiful swallowtail is the UK's largest butterfly. A strong flier, residents can be spotted over wetlands in Norfolk during summer. Migrants occasionally appear in southern…
This brightly-coloured beetle is often found feeding on flowers on warm days in late spring and summer.
A common moth across most of the UK. The large, hairy caterpillars are often seen in late summer.
These wild, open landscapes stretch over large areas and are most often found in uplands. Although slow to awaken in spring, by late summer heathland can be an eye-catching purple haze of heather…
This huge gull can be seen around most of the UK's coasts in summer, with some venturing inland in winter.
Open water, lowland fen, and wet woodland.
The guelder-rose is a small tree of hedgerows, woods, scrub and wetlands. It displays large, white flowers in summer and red berries in autumn, which feed all kinds of birds, including Bullfinches…
A large hawker, the Common Hawker can be seen throughout the summer and into autumn. A fast-flying insect, it catches its prey mid-air. Look for it around ponds in the uplands of the north and…
The metallic-green Musk beetle lives up to its name: it releases a musky-smelling secretion when it defends itself. It is a longhorn beetle, so has lengthy antennae. Look for it near wetlands in…
Bev is grateful to live down the road from Potteric Carr Nature Reserve, a 210ha wetland site which stores excess water from the River Torne during times of high
rainfall. This saved her…
In summer, the sedge warbler can be spotted singing from a reed or willow perch in wetlands across the UK. Males never sing the same song twice, adding new phrases to impress the females.
Rare summer visitors, honey buzzards breed in open woodland where they feed on the nests and larvae of bees and wasps.