House sparrow
The house sparrow is a familiar, streaky brown bird of towns, parks and gardens. Males sport a grey cap and black bib, the size of which indicates their status.
Water vole by Terry Whittaker/2020VISION
The house sparrow is a familiar, streaky brown bird of towns, parks and gardens. Males sport a grey cap and black bib, the size of which indicates their status.
Niamh loves to feed the birds, so makes natural feeders out of pinecones and berries, to help them through the winter. She’ll tie this to a branch so that the birds can feast from it safely.
Look for wood avens along hedgerows and in woodlands. Its yellow flowers appear in spring and provide nectar for insects; later, they turn to red, hooked seedheads that can easily stick to a…
The rose-red breast, large black cap and thick bill make the bullfinch easy to identify. A plump-looking bird of woodlands, hedgerows and orchards, it also frequents gardens.
The pied flycatcher is a summer visitor, migrating here from West Africa to breed. Look for this small, black-and-white bird in woodland, parks and gardens, mostly in the west of the UK.
Aidan is passionate about this wetland oasis which he helped safeguard from development in the 80s. It’s his childhood playground, where he spent many happy days of discovery. Now, he loves…
Our largest shieldbug, the red-and-green hawthorn shieldbug can be seen in gardens, parks and woodlands, feeding on hawthorn, rowan and whitebeam. The adults hibernate over winter.
Great mullein is an impressive, tall plant of waste ground, roadside verges and gardens. Its candle-like flower spikes rise from rosettes of furry, silver-green leaves.
Living up to its name, the long-tailed tit can be easily recognised by its long tail. It is a small, pretty, pink, black and white bird that can be seen in woodlands, gardens and parks.