Limestone pavement
Slabs of smooth grey rock, incised with deep fissures and patterned with swirling hollows and runnels sculpted by thousands of years of rainwater, form an unlikely wildlife habitat. Look a little…
Slabs of smooth grey rock, incised with deep fissures and patterned with swirling hollows and runnels sculpted by thousands of years of rainwater, form an unlikely wildlife habitat. Look a little…
Rocky habitats are some of the most natural and untouched places in the UK. Often high up in the hills and hard to reach, they are havens for some of our rarest wildlife.
Ffrwd farm mire is a wetland reserve in south Carmarthenshire. It is a lovely mix of fen, wet ditches, reed bed, and alder/ willow carr woodland. It is home to an abundance of wetland species…
Bloody crane's-bill has striking magenta flowers that pepper our rare limestone pavements, grasslands and sand dunes with summer colour. It is a favourite of all kinds of insects, including…
Discover more about the UK's amazing natural habitats and the wildlife that live there. From peat bogs and caves, to woodlands and meadows!
A pale member of the violet family sometimes known as ‘milk violet’, the fen violet has a delicate and unassuming appearance. A real specialist of the wetland habitat, this species has seen a…
Cotoneaster was introduced to the UK in 1879 from Eastern Asia as an ornamental plant. It is now an invasive non-native species which is taking over valuable habitats including limestone…
The song of the skylark has been the subject of many great musical and literary works. A quintessential feature of our farmland and grasslands habitats, it is declining rapidly with habitat loss…
Look for the small, pink, pea-shaped flowers of Common restharrow on chalk and limestone grasslands, and in coastal areas, during summer.
Look for the round, cottony, purple flower heads of the Woolly thistle on chalk and limestone grasslands in summer. It is mainly found in Southern England.
Pellitory-of-the-wall is a small to medium-sized herb that frequently grows from cracks in old stone walls, pavements, cliffs and banks, and churches and ruins.
The Brown argus favours open, chalk and limestone grasslands, but can also be spotted on coastal dunes, in woodland clearings and along disused railways.