Lowland fen
Water-logged and thick with reeds and robust tall-herbs or tussocky sedges, fens are evocative reminders of the extensive wet wildlands that once covered far more of the lowlands than they do…
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Chwilio
October Brecknock reserves update
With a turn of the seasons, our Brecknock team are busy preparing the Brecknock reserves for the winter to come. They're helping maintain habitats, and provide shelter for the wonderful…
Carline thistle
The Carline thistle produces distinctive brown-and-golden flower heads that look like a seeded thistle. These flowers are attractive to a wide range of butterflies, including the very rare Large…
Common cockchafer
This large, brown beetle can be seen swarming around streetlights in spring. They live underground as larvae for years and emerge as adults often in large numbers. Listen for their characteristic…
Common knapweed
The tightly packed, thistle-like purple flower heads of common knapweed bloom on all kinds of grasslands. Also regularly called black knapweed, this plant attracts clouds of butterflies.
Wavy hair-grass
Wavy hair-grass lives up to its name: its fine, hair-like leaves and delicate flower heads can be seen shaking in the breeze of a windswept moorland or heathland.
Landmark COP15 agreement gives nature hope for the future, if implementation follows
After twelve days of talks and two years of delay, negotiators at COP15 in Montreal have agreed a historic global deal to protect nature.
Machair
A rare habitat remarkable for its colourful diversity of wildflowers and abundant birdlife, machair grassland is a feast for the ears and eyes.
Adder's-tongue fern
The adder's-tongue fern is so-named because the tall stalk that bears its spores is thought to resemble a snake's tongue. An indicator of ancient meadows, it can be found mainly in…
Bar-tailed godwit
The bar-tailed godwit winters in the UK in the thousands; look for it around estuaries like the Thames and Humber. In spring, the males display arresting breeding plumage, with brick-red heads,…
Chamomile
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…
Colt's-foot
Looking like a short Dandelion, but with a much rounder middle, Colt's-foot is a 'weed' of waste ground and field edges that brightens up early spring with its sunshine-yellow…