Soldier beetle
One of our largest soldier beetles, often found on flowers where they hunt other insects.
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Water vole by Terry Whittaker/2020VISION
Chwilio
Heineken fly
A common hoverfly, the Heineken fly has a distinctively long snout that enables it to take nectar from deeper flowers, reaching the parts other hoverflies cannot reach! It frequents hedgerows,…
My timeout
Jessica-Jane Applegate MBE is a Paralympic and World Champion swimmer. She spends so much time training and rushing around from one venue to another, her favourite place is her garden. Here she…
Towns and gardens
Built up areas and gardens might seem unlikely places for finding wildlife. But maybe surprisingly they can provide homes for some of our most amazing wildlife, from city peregrines to urban otters!
Purple emperor
The male purple emperor is a stunning butterfly with a brilliant purple sheen. Look for it feeding around the treetops in woodlands, or on damp ground, animal droppings or even carrion in the…
Common bird's-foot-trefoil
Common bird's-foot-trefoil has a vareity of names that conjure up some interesting images: 'Eggs and Bacon', for instance! Its small, yellow, slipper-like flowers can be seen in all…
Winter
In winter life can be hard for animals – days are short and for many creatures finding enough food to survive takes up almost every hour of daylight. But there is still plenty of wildlife to spot.
Common cow-wheat
Common cow-wheat is a delicate annual that brightens up the edges of acid woodland and heaths with deep golden flowers in the summer.
Common restharrow
Look for the small, pink, pea-shaped flowers of Common restharrow on chalk and limestone grasslands, and in coastal areas, during summer.
Cow parsley
The umbrella-like clusters of white, frothy flowers of cow parsley are a familiar sight along roadsides, hedgerows and woodland edges.
Yellow archangel
As the bluebells fade, yellow archangel takes its turn to impress, with golden-yellow flowers carpeting our ancient woodlands.
My experiment
Simon has been restoring Wild Meadows for three years. By planting trees, digging a lake and sowing meadows, he is showing how quickly wildlife like otters, badgers and tawny owls can return, and…