Small blue
The small blue's name is a little misleading: it is our smallest butterfly, but only shows a dusting of blue on brown wings. It is scarce, occurring on chalk grassland, mostly in southern…
The small blue's name is a little misleading: it is our smallest butterfly, but only shows a dusting of blue on brown wings. It is scarce, occurring on chalk grassland, mostly in southern…
These moths can be seen flying on sunny days, but you're more likely to spot the fuzzy caterpillars crawling over paths.
This scarce breeding duck is a summer visitor, spending the winter in Africa. Although large flocks can be found in their wintering grounds, they are usually only seen in pairs or small groups in…
A scarce tree of central and southern England, in particular, the Small-leaved Lime can be found in ancient woodland. It is has sweet-smelling flowers in summer and nut-like fruits in autumn.
A scarce and declining bird, the tree sparrow can be spotted on farmland and in woodlands; it is not an urban bird in the UK. It has a brown cap and black cheek-spots, unlike the similar house…
The broad-bordered bee hawk-moth does, indeed, look like a bee! A scarce moth, mainly of Central and Southern England, it feeds on the wing and can be seen during spring and summer.
Chamomile releases a beautiful, apple-like scent when crushed. For this reason, it was used in Elizabethan times as a plant for lawns and seats! Today, it is scarce in the wild, its grassland…
Limited in distribution, this sweetly-scented, short-cropped, springy grassland is famed for its abundance of rare and scarce species.
With their beautiful striped tentacles, it's easy to see where dahlia anemones got their floral name from. Look out for them next time you're rockpooling!
Bev is grateful to live down the road from Potteric Carr Nature Reserve, a 210ha wetland site which stores excess water from the River Torne during times of high
rainfall. This saved her…