Volunteers in Gelli-Hir Wood begin this year's battle against Himalayan Balsam. The non-native invasive plant has begun its renewed attack on our woodland. On the front line are our…
This is a strange, sparse habitat of grassland growing on old mining tracks and slag heaps, on river gravels and naturally exposed metal-rich soils in the mountains. Only the toughest metal-loving…
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,…
I was appointed to the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust on 20th July 2020, as Head of Nature Recovery South, after being interviewed on two Zoom meetings, a very odd experience in these strange…
The clouded yellow is a migrant that arrives here from May onwards. Usually, only small numbers turn up, but some years see mass migrations. It prefers open habitats, particularly chalk grassland…
If you were to pick up a rock in the garden, you’d hopefully find a few common woodlouse. These hardy minibeasts have in-built armour and like to hide in warm, moist places like compost heaps.
Looking a bit like a ragged version of a dandelion, mouse-ear hawkweed has lemon-yellow flower heads that are tinged with red at their outer edges. It likes grassy places with short turf and…
Reed sweet-grass is a towering grass with large, loose flower heads that can be found on marshy ground near rivers, streams and ponds. It can become invasive, but does shelter various aquatic…
Found in compost heaps and under stones in gardens, the white-legged snake millipede is a common minibeast. Despite its name, it has about 100 legs. It is an important recycler of nutrients,…
The yew is a well-known tree of churchyards, but also grows wild on chalky soils. Yew trees can live for hundreds of years, turning into a maze of hollow wood and fallen trunks beneath dense…
