My birding
A couple of years ago Nick took the plunge and bought into a bird watching holiday company, and at a stroke his hobby became his livelihood.
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Chwilio
Common laburnum
Common laburnum is an introduced species, planted in parks and gardens. It is most recognisable in flower - its hanging bunches of yellow blooms giving it the name 'Golden rain'. It is…
Common polypody
The common polypody is a hardy fern of damp, shady places in woodlands. It also makes a good garden fern. It has ladder-like, leathery foliage with pimply undersides - these spots are the spores…
Common box
Common box grows in woodlands and scrub in southern England, with notable populations in the Chilterns, Cotswolds and North Downs. A familiar evergreen tree, it has shiny, dark green, oval leaves…
Dog's mercury
Often seen carpeting the floor of ancient woodlands, Dog's mercury can quickly colonise, its fresh green leaves shading out rarer plants. It is also very poisonous.
Field wood-rush
Field wood-rush is a short rush that forms tufts in grassy places, such as lawns, parks and downlands. A defining characteristic is its leaf-like leaves that are fringed with long, white hairs.…
Hedge bindweed
A climbing plant of woodlands, hedgerows, riverbanks and gardens, Hedge bindweed can become a pest in some places. It has large, trumpet-shaped, white flowers and arrow-shaped leaves.
Navelwort
The disc-shaped leaves and straw-coloured flower spikes of Navelwort help to identify this plant. As does its habitat - look for it growing from crevices in rocks, walls and stony areas.
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.
Marine
There's another world waiting beneath the waves. Seals weave in and out of sunlit kelp forests, cuttlefish flash all the colours of the rainbow, starfish graze along the muddy seabed and…
My world
John has worked in fisheries management for over 25 years. He has seen our waterways at their best – and their worst. He knows firsthand how devastating unhealthy rivers can be for wildlife and…
Blue tit
A familiar garden bird, the blue tit can be seen around bird tables and feeders, as well as in woodlands and parks. Listen out for its trilling, 'tsee-tsee-tsee' song. It is smaller than…