Enchanter's nightshade
Enchanter's nightshade is a hairy plant, with rounded leaves that taper to a fine tip, and clusters of small, pinky-white flowers in summer.
Enchanter's nightshade is a hairy plant, with rounded leaves that taper to a fine tip, and clusters of small, pinky-white flowers in summer.
The graceful great crested grebe is a familiar sight on our lakes and reservoirs, and is well-known for its elaborate courtship dance, during which it rises vertically out of the water and shakes…
With food, water and shelter scarce over the winter months, give your garden birds a treat with an edible Christmas wreath.
The vast, green mats that sometimes cover the surface of still water, such as ponds, flooded gravel pits and old canals, are actually Common duckweed. A tiny, single plant, it groups together to…
If you have a garden pond, look out for the Large red damselfly resting at the water's edge. As the name suggests, males are bright red with a black thorax, but females may be almost entirely…
A ferocious and fast predator, the Devil's coach horse beetle hunts invertebrates after dark in gardens and on grasslands. It is well-known for curling up its abdomen like the tail of a…
The gadwall is a dabbling duck, feeding at the surface of shallow water by 'upending' - putting its head down and its bottom up! Only a small number of gadwall nest in the UK, but large…
The humpback whale is making a comeback, with more and more individuals being seen in UK seas every year. They are well known for their acrobatic behaviour - so don't be surprised to see them…
The sanderling scampers about the waves looking for marine crustaceans, fish and even jellyfish to eat. It visits the UK in winter from its Arctic breeding grounds, but can also be seen as it…
The small, shaggy-furred Brandt's bat roosts in all sorts of houses, old or modern. It is similar to the whiskered bat and they often roost together, but in separate colonies. It feeds low to…
The Land caddis is the only caddisfly in the UK to spend its entire time on land, with no stage in water. Look in oak leaf litter over winter to see the grainy cases of the larvae, in which they…
Hedgehogs face a combination of threats at this time of year – well, if you have nowhere to live and gather enough food to survive the winter, you’re going to be in trouble! But there are simple…