Mandarin duck
A pretty and distinctive little waterbird, the mandarin duck was introduced from the Far East as its name suggests. Oddly for a duck, it nests in trees, sometimes high above the water.
A pretty and distinctive little waterbird, the mandarin duck was introduced from the Far East as its name suggests. Oddly for a duck, it nests in trees, sometimes high above the water.
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…
A common dragonfly of canals, marshes, reedbeds and lakes, the brown hawker can be seen patrolling the water or 'hawking' through woodland rides. It is easily distinguished by its…
The common pond skater can be seen 'skating' over the surface of ponds, lakes, ditches and slow-moving rivers. It is predatory, feeding on small insects by detecting vibrations in the…
The hustle and bustle of city life melts away when Kathryn visits Camley Street Natural Park. Without leaving central London, she can go from man-made soaring skyscrapers to an oasis-like…
Pond dipping provided Nicky with a window to a new world. As Worcestershire Wildlife Trust’s Engagement Officer, she hopes that the thousands of children she shares this window with will be as…
Flowering rush is a pretty rush-like plant of shallow wetland habitats, such as ponds, canals and ditches. Its cup-shaped, pink flowers appear in summer, brightening up the water's edge.
Peat is a key tool in addressing climate change. How? Peat in the UK stores more carbon than all the woodland in the UK, France, and Germany! The UK and Wales are some of the few countries in the…
Meadow buttercup is a tall and stately buttercup, with buttery-yellow flowers that pepper meadows, pastures, gardens and parks with little drops of sunshine.
The fearsome common backswimmer hunts insects, tadpoles and fish. It uses its oar-like legs to swim upside-down under the water's surface where unsuspecting prey can be found.
A common hoverfly, the heineken fly has a distinctively long snout that enables it to take nectar from deeper flowers, reaching the parts other hoverflies cannot reach! It frequents hedgerows,…
Filip likes to get stuck in – into waders, into water, into peat – out in nature. Having tried various careers, once Filip dipped his toe into the world of conservation he was hooked and knew he…