Marsh violet
As its name suggests, the Marsh violet likes damp spots, such as marshes, bogs and wet woods. It is a low-growing plant with kidney-shaped leaves and pale lilac flowers.
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Water vole by Terry Whittaker/2020VISION
Chwilio
Wayfaring-tree
The wayfaring-tree is a small tree of hedgerows, woods, scrub and downland. It displays creamy-white flowers in spring and red berries in autumn, which ripen to black and are very poisonous.
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.
Recycling - what difference does it make?
Whether you drop a can of pop into a waste or recycling bin, it’s easy to think that this small act has no real consequence. After all, once it’s in, you rarely have to think about it again. And in a way, this is great, because it makes recycling easy and hassle-free, but on the other hand, it is also makes it a practice that is very easy to neglect. But if you did chose to recycle an aluminium can, what difference would it make?
Caves
Caves are naturally occurring hollows in the ground and are usually large enough for a person to enter. They are made by a process known as "speleogenesis"! It sounds complicated, but this basically describes how caves begin and develop.
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon spends most of its life at sea, but makes an epic journey back to the river or stream in which it hatched to spawn. Look out for it in freshwater rivers in the north and west…
Banded demoiselle
The banded demoiselle can be seen flitting around slow-moving rivers, ponds and lakes. The males are metallic blue, with a distinctive dark band across their wings, and the females are a shiny…
Bream
The bronze-coloured bream can be seen gathering in large shoals in lowland ponds, lakes and slow-flowing rivers. It is a member of the carp family and looks similar to the dace, chub and rudd.
Common sandpiper
The common sandpiper breeds along rivers, and by lakes, reservoirs and lochs in upland Scotland, Northern England and Wales. It can be spotted as a passage migrant at many inland wetlands across…
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 pond skater
The common pond skater can be seen 'skating' over the surface of ponds, lakes, ditches and slow-moving rivers. It is predatory, feeding on small insects by detecting vibrations in the…
Four-spotted chaser
The four-spotted chaser is easily recognised by the two dark spots on the leading edge of each wing - giving this species its name. It can be seen on heathlands and near ponds and lakes.