As a Trainee Reserves officer at Rutland Water Nature Reserve, Dale is lucky enough that he can take his passion for wildlife to work with him, with a job that will set him up for a career in…
Our two-minute survey can score your garden and offer ideas to make it even better for wildlife, but why is this so important?
As the name suggests, the male blackcap has a black cap, while the female has a gingery one. Look for this distinctive warbler in woodland, parks and gardens.
These gruesome sounding creatures are actually a type of coral! They get their name as they branch out into lobes as they grow - making them look like fingers on a hand.
A good luck charm for travellers, Germander speedwell can be seen along roadsides, grassy lanes and hedgerows. Look for clumps of bright blue flowers.
A summer visitor, the wheatear is a handsome chat, with black cheeks, white eyestripes, a blue back and a pale orange chest. Look for it on upland heaths and moors.
Living up to its name, the bullhead has a characteristically large, flattened head and a tapering body. Look out for it in fast-flowing, stony rivers and streams.
An easily overlooked orchid, the Common twayblade is yellow-green and less showy than other UK orchids. Look for it in woodlands and grasslands on chalky soils, in particular.
Look for the small, white, star-shaped flowers of Common chickweed all year-round. Sometimes considered a 'weed', it is still a valuable food source for insects.
Look out for the Daubenton's bat foraging over wetlands across the UK at twilight. Its flight is fast and agile as it skims the water's surface for insect-prey.
The ringlet gets its name from the small rings on the undersides of its wings. These rings show variation in the different forms of this species, even elongating into a teardrop shape.
