Mallard
The much-loved mallard is our most familiar duck, found across town and country. If you're feeding the ducks please don't feed them bread - it's not good for them! Instead, they…
Water vole by Terry Whittaker/2020VISION
The much-loved mallard is our most familiar duck, found across town and country. If you're feeding the ducks please don't feed them bread - it's not good for them! Instead, they…
As its name suggests, the smooth stems of soft rush are thinner and more flexible than those of hard rush. It forms tufts in wetland habitats like wet woodlands, marshes, ditches and grasslands.…
The Glanville fritillary can be spotted on warm days around coastal habitats on the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands, as well as at a few locations in mainland England.
Rowan loves the fresh smell and sight of the buttercups in the wildflower meadows at Besthorpe. It's a special place because there are precious few spots like this where she can spend time…
Cuttlefish are related to squids and octopuses – a group of molluscs known as cephalopods. You may have seen the chalky internal shell, called a cuttlebone washed up on beaches around the UK.…
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…
Our smallest breeding seabird, the storm petrel is barely larger than a house martin! They mostly nest among rocks or in burrows on small offshore islands.
As the name suggests, the common medium stonefly is found in gravelly upland rivers and streams, often on bankside stones and plants. There are 34 species of stonefly in the UK, which are hard to…
The red grouse is an umistakeable bird - plump and round, with a gingery-red body as its name suggests. Found on upland heathlands, it is under threat from the nationwide, dramatic loss of these…
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…
Despite popular belief, and its name (from the Old English for 'ear beetle'), the common earwig will not crawl into your ear while you sleep - it much prefers a nice log or stone pile!…
Did you know we have colourful corals in UK seas? Pink sea fans are a type of horny coral - related to the sea fans found in the tropics. Don't be fooled by their name though, pink sea fans…