Lords-and-ladies
Look for the unusual flowers of lords-and-ladies in spring woodlands: a pale green sheath surrounds a spike of tiny, yellow flowers. This spike eventually forms a familiar, short stalk of striking…
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Chwilio
Parsley fern
Parsley fern lives up to its name - the pale green fronds form in clusters among rocks and look just like parsley. Look out for it in upland areas, particularly in Wales and Cumbria.
Ashy mining bee
This black and grey solitary bee takes to the wing in spring, when it can be seen buzzing around burrows in open ground.
Common duckweed
The vast, green mats that sometimes cover the surface of still water, such as ponds, flooded gravel pits and old canals, are actually Common duckweed. A tiny, single plant, it groups together to…
Spurge laurel
Despite its name, Spurge laurel is not a laurel - it just looks like one! It has glossy, dark green leaves and black, poisonous berries, and can be found in woodlands in southern England, in…
My career path
As a Trainee Reserves officer at Rutland Water Nature Reserve, Dale is lucky enough that he can take his passion for wildlife to work with him, with a job that will set him up for a career in…
Pyramidal orchid
The pyramidal orchid lives up to its name - look for a bright pinky-purple, densely packed pyramid of flowers atop a green stem. It likes chalk grassland, sand dunes, roadside verges and quarries…
My passion
Chris is the Southern Reserves Manager at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and leads a team of staff, wardens and volunteers in caring for our nature reserves in the South of Nottinghamshire. This…
Oak eggar
These moths can be seen flying on sunny days, but you're more likely to spot the fuzzy caterpillars crawling over paths.
Hart's-tongue fern
The hart's-tongue fern is a hardy fern of damp, shady places in woodlands. It also makes a good garden fern. It has simple, tongue-shaped, glossy, green leaves that have orange spores on…
Coastal and floodplain grazing marsh
Enormous flocks of geese, ducks and swans swirl down from wide skies to drop onto the flat, open expanses of flooded grazing marshes in winter. In spring, lapwing tumble overhead and the soft,…
Brown rat
The brown rat has a bad reputation, but it mostly lives side-by-side with us without any problems. It can be seen in any habitat.