Narcissus bulb fly
With ginger hairs, dark banding and a cream tail, the narcissus bulb fly looks like a bumble bee, but is harmless to us. This mimicry helps to protect it from predators while it searches for…
With ginger hairs, dark banding and a cream tail, the narcissus bulb fly looks like a bumble bee, but is harmless to us. This mimicry helps to protect it from predators while it searches for…
Chamomile releases a beautiful, apple-like scent when crushed. For this reason, it was used in Elizabethan times as a plant for lawns and seats! Today, it is scarce in the wild, its grassland…
Elder is an opportunistic shrub of woods, hedges, scrub, waste and cultivated ground. Its flowers and berries are edible, but it's best to gather wild food with an expert - try it at a…
Look for the wood warbler singing from the canopy of oak woodlands in the north and west of the UK. Green above, it has a distinctive, bright yellow throat and eyestripe.
The comma has distinctively ragged wing edges, which help to camouflage it - at rest, it looks just like a dead leaf! It prefers woodland edges, but can be spotted feeding on fallen fruit in…
Our largest and most common bee-fly, the dark-edged bee-fly looks just like a bumblebee, and buzzes like one too! It feeds on flowers like primroses and violets in gardens, parks and woodlands.…
Discover some wonderful winter wildlife as part of 12 Days Wild
The greylag goose can be easily spotted around parks, gravel pits and river valleys, but these populations tend to be semi-tame, having been reintroduced. Truly wild populations can be found in…
Violet ground beetles are active predators, coming out at night to hunt slugs and other invertebrates in gardens, woodlands and meadows.
Meadow buttercup is a tall and stately buttercup, with buttery-yellow flowers that pepper meadows, pastures, gardens and parks with little drops of sunshine.
Windy, open moors covered in bright yellow, spiky common gorse bushes and purple heathers are synonymous with what we call 'wild' landscapes, but it can be seen in many habitats, from…
Living up to its name, the Robin's pincushion is a red, round, hairy growth that can be seen on wild roses. It is caused by the larvae of a tiny gall wasp that feeds on the host plant, but…