Wasp beetle
A clever mimic, the wasp beetle is black-and-yellow and moves in a jerky, flight-like fashion - fooling predators into thinking it is actually a more harmful common wasp. Look for it in hedgerows…
A clever mimic, the wasp beetle is black-and-yellow and moves in a jerky, flight-like fashion - fooling predators into thinking it is actually a more harmful common wasp. Look for it in hedgerows…
Due to the devastating effects of Dutch elm disease in the 20th century, wych elm is rarely found as a large tree, but is more common as a shrub along hedgerows and streams, and in upland areas.…
We’ve recently received the sad news of the passing of Bob Bulgin BEM. The funeral to be held in his home town in Cornwall on the 6th September 2024.
As its name suggests, the smooth stems of soft rush are thinner and more flexible than those of hard rush. It forms tufts in wetland habitats like wet woodlands, marshes, ditches and grasslands.…
30 years ago, if Jeremy had fallen in the river then he’d have been more worried about being poisoned than drowned! A 1980s trawl survey found just one fish in the Billingham reach of the Tees,…
A winter visitor, the well-travelled Bewick's swan is the smallest of our swans. It has more black on its yellow-and-black bill than the whooper swan. Look out for it around Eastern England…
The new pond complex at Carmel Nature Reserve was designed specifically for wildlife. We created four ponds of different depths and surface areas to increase the range of wildlife attracted to the…
Find out how you can make your local area more hedgehog friendly!
Plastic waste and its damaging effect on our seas and natural world has been big news recently. Here's what you can you do about it.
Common couch is a tall, tuft-forming grass of roadside verges, waste ground and arable land. It is very tough and can shade out more delicate plants. Look for flat, blade-like leaves and thin…
As the name suggests, this tall, white heron is considerably larger than the similar little egret. Once a rare visitor to the UK, sightings have become more common over the last few decades, with…
The whooper swan is a very rare breeding bird in the UK, but has much larger populations that spend winter here after a long journey from Iceland. It has more yellow on its yellow-and-black bill…