The footballer
This common hoverfly is often seen visiting flowers. It's named for its stripy thorax, which looks a bit like a football shirt.
This common hoverfly is often seen visiting flowers. It's named for its stripy thorax, which looks a bit like a football shirt.
A small colourful sea slug that can be found grazing on sea mats on the rocky shore and beyond the low water mark.
The thresher shark is a migratory species and passes through UK waters in the summer months. If you’re lucky, you might see this magnificent shark jump high out of the water in to the air.
The Pen y Waun nature reserve consists of two small fields situated on the edge of Waun-y-Mynach common. The fields were former garden plots for nearby cottages.
The hare's ear is a cup-like fungus that grows in clusters in broadleaved and mixed woodland, often near to the path. Its orange colour makes it quite conspicuous in the leaf litter.
The reserve can be divided into two principal areas, a large area of regenerating broadleaf woodland with heath pockets, and the section of more mature broadleaf woodland that is notified SSSI.…
A well-travelled migrant, the painted lady arrives here every summer from Europe and Africa. This beautiful orange-and-black butterfly regularly visits gardens.
A giant of the sea turtle world, leatherback turtles are ocean wanderers searching the seas for jellyfish. Unlike other sea turtles, leatherback turtles don’t mind the cold! This means they can…
Last month our Parc Slip team and dedicated volunteers were delighted to welcome ITV Coast and Country to film on the reserve and find out about our important habitat conservation work, highland…
The pretty-in-purple amethyst deceiver can be seen growing in the leaf litter of our woodlands during late summer and autumn. Although edible, it looks similar to the poisonous Lilac fibrecap.
The largest of the UK wrasse species, the ballan wrasse with its striking patterning is a delight for any rocky reef snorkeller or shallow water diver!
John has been attending the Recovery Project at Idle Valley Nature Reserve for three years. After being diagnosed with dyslexia and getting bullied for several years at school, he was left with…