Lesser water-parsnip
Look out for the white, umbrella-like flower heads of lesser water-parsnip along the shallow margins of ditches, ponds, lakes and rivers. When crushed, it does, indeed, smell like parsnip!
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Chwilio
Great northern diver
This hefty diving bird is a winter visitor to the UK, where it can be seen around the coast or occasionally on large inland lakes.
Act swiftly! Public asked to help endangered high-flying birds
The Wildlife Trusts & RHS call on gardeners to help swifts, swallows, and martins
Yellow iris
The large, sunshine-yellow flowers of the yellow iris brighten up the margins of our waterways, ponds, wet woods, fens and marshes. Also called the 'flag iris', its outer petals have a…
Towns and gardens
The green spaces of our towns and gardens bring nature into our daily lives, brightening our mornings with birdsong and the busy buzzing of bees. Together, the UK's gardens are larger than…
Slavonian grebe
The rare Slavonian grebe is an attractive diving bird with distinctive, golden ear tufts that give rise to its American name - 'horned grebe'.
Reedbed
Found between water and land, reedbeds are transitional habitats. They can form extensive swamps in lowland floodplains or fringe streams, rivers, ditches, ponds and lakes with a thin feathery…
Ferruginous beegrabber
This unusual fly ambushes bees, laying eggs inside of them.
My routine
Martin volunteers with Herefordshire Wildlife Trust’s Orchard Origins every Friday come rain or shine. His commitment has contributed to conserving many of Herefordshire’s traditional orchards.…
Welsh poppy
The Welsh poppy is a plant of damp and shady places, roadsides and hillsides. It is also a garden escapee. It flowers over summer, attracting nectar-loving insects.
Farmland
Farmland can conjure up rural images of brown hares zig-zagging across fields, chattering flocks of finches and yellowhammers singing from thick, bushy hedges and field margins studded with…
Pintail
When spotting the pintail in winter, look out for the fabulous, long tail feathers that characterise it. This dabbling duck feeds at the water's surface, rather than diving for food.