Brecknock Nature Reserves Update August 2023
It's been a busy summer for our Brecknock team with lots of work on balsam and bracken!
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Chwilio
Fox moth
The large, fluffy caterpillars of this moth are often seen in summer and early spring.
Brownfield
The uncontainable nature of wildlife is perhaps clearest in brownfield sites – previously developed land that is not currently in use. The crumbling concrete of abandoned factories, disused power…
My water filter
Duncan helps to manage the pockets of peatland at Bell Crag Flow, near Newcastle. The ancient landscapes that he works on are around 10,000 years old. These sites are great for wildlife but they…
Thongweed
One of the longest seaweeds native to the UK, thongweed helps create a beautiful underwater forest to rival that of any on the land!
The Elephant In The Room
Late summer is the best time to discover one of the UK’s chunkiest caterpillars, the elephant hawk-moth.
Red-and-black froghopper
This distinctive bug is often seen basking on low-growing plants in spring and summer.
My jump leads
Ann and her husband nurture and cultivate specialist sphagnum mosses and vascular plants like bog cranberry for a community area of the moss: they’re kickstarting the vegetation growth on Little…
Whooper swan
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…
Penderi Cliffs
Maritime cliff and slope, upland Oak woodland and lowland heathland. Notified SSSI.
Privet hawk-moth
With a torpedo-shaped body and long, narrow wings, the privet hawk-moth is a striking garden visitor. But the caterpillars really stand out: lime-green, with purple streaks and a black hook at the…
Bilberry
Bilberries appear in summer and early autumn and are often turned into jams, pies and sauces...