This secretive bird is a member of the rail family, related to coots and moorhens. The breeding call, a rasping rattle, is given mostly at night, sometimes for hours on end.
When Rowan visits Sydenham Hill Wood, every puddle, tree and trail is part of the adventure. And his dad quite likes playing along too.
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,…
The shiny, translucent porcelain fungus certainly lives up to its name in appearance. It can be seen growing on beech trees and dead wood in summer and autumn.
The pungent, rotten smell of Black Horehound makes this medium-sized plant of waste ground and roadside verges stand out from the crowd.
Native oysters are a staple of our seas and our plates - but our love of their taste has lead to a sharp decline all around the UK.
Perennial rye-grass is a tufted, vigorous grass of roadside verges, rough pastures and waste ground. It is commonly used in agriculture and for reseeding grasslands.
The candlesnuff fungus is very common. It has an erect, stick-like or forked fruiting body with a black base and white, powdery tip. It grows on dead and rotting wood.
This relatively large reserve is a mosaic of woodland and grassland with wide, wooded gullies.
Annual meadow-grass is a coarse, vigorous grass that can be found on waste ground, bare grassland and in lawns. In some situations, it can be considered a weed.
A scrambling plant, Common vetch has pink flowers. It is a member of the pea family and can be seen on grassland, farmland and waste ground, as well as at the coast.
