Our Outreach and Engagement Officer for the Welshwildlife Centre, Cedwyn, works on the Lottery Heritage & Lottery Community Fund project. This project aims to engage new audiences and improve accessibility and inclusivity at the Welsh Wildlife Centre. His most beloved species is the Gannet. Famed for their magnificent diving displays, Gannets also engage in intriguing courtships displays such as beak tapping and also mate for life. 

Our Communications and Marketing Manager, Grace, choose Otters for her most beloved species. Their playful nature and excellent swimming abilities make them mesmerizing to watch. Otters experienced dramatic declines in the mid-19th century but have since made a successful comeback. They are now present in 90% of monitored Welsh rivers. Learn about our Cardiff Youth Forum river pollution campaign, Save Our Taff, which is working to secure the future of healthy Welsh rivers. 

Our Reserves Officer for Ceridigion, Doug, shared his love for an interesting flower found in wetlands and heathland. This carnivorous plant excretes a sticky fluid that tempts unsuspecting insects to land on its leaves and become its prey. The acidic bogs, fens and damp heaths that common butterwort lives in do not provide it with enough nutrients, so it has evolved this carnivorous way of life to supplement its diet. It has purple flowers that appear from May to July.

Our Wilder Engagement Officer for Brecon, Sarah, says:

"I would have to go with the Manx Shearwater. They are pretty romantic as they spend their migration apart but come back to the same burrow and partner each breeding season" - Sarah 

Our Skomer Island reserve is home to half the world’s population of Manx shearwaters. Every spring 700,000 of these seabirds return to the island, travelling a whopping 7000 miles from South America, to breed and rear their chicks. 

For myself, I would chose the Garden Tiger moth. Insects are always underappreciated and this particular moth has a beautiful wing pattern with bold shapes and a brightly coloured underwing. This species is suffering from the 'tidying up' of our gardens and is in decline. To find out what you can do to help butterflies in moths in your garden read more here. 

Our Nature Recovery Manager, Ceri, shared her appreciation for Red Squirrels. Red Squirrels have suffered significant declines in the last 100 years, driven by competition and disease from non-native Grey Squirrels, as well as loss of habitat. They are classified as Endangered in Wales, meaning they are at risk of extinction. We recently launched a campaign in response to a proposed energy park development which threatens to push one of the last Red Squirrel populations in Wales to extinction. To donate to our Red squirrel appeal, find out more here. 

Our final species of the article is the beloved Chough. Shaun, the Reserves Officer Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot shares his love for this red legged corvid. The chough lives on short, grazed grassland and coastal heathland where it probes the ground with its long, red bill for insects, such as leatherjackets and beetle larvae. Acrobatic in flight, it has a 'chee-ow' call which is similar to, but louder than, the Jackdaw's. Wales hosts 75% of the UK’s Chough breeding population making it a stronghold for these beautiful birds.