Autumn woodlands
See the woods transform as the cool of autumn sets in: Find the best places to kick through the leaves, and enjoy the best of autumn's colours and woodland wildlife.
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Chwilio
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…
Chalk rivers
Cool, crystal-clear waters flow over gravelly beds, streaming through white-flowered water-crowfoot and watercress in serene lowland landscapes.
Flowering rush
Flowering rush is a pretty rush-like plant of shallow wetland habitats, such as ponds, canals and ditches. Its cup-shaped, pink flowers appear in summer, brightening up the water's edge.
Common spike-rush
Forming mats of straight, bright green stems, Common spike-rush does, indeed, look like lots of tightly clustered 'spikes' near the water's edge of our wetland habitats.
Bird Flu: Growing concern over impact on important sea bird colonies
We have been saddened to see recent reports of the impact of and worrying increase in cases of highly parthenogenic avian influenza (HPAI or “bird flu”) throughout seabird colonies around the…
Great reedmace
Great reedmace is familiar to many of us as the archetypal 'bulrush'. Look for its tall stems, sausage-like, brown flower heads and green, flat leaves at the water's edge in our…
Risso’s dolphin
Risso’s dolphins are mysterious creatures usually only found in deep, offshore waters.
My secret garden
Rowan loves the fresh smell and sight of the buttercups in the wildflower meadows at Besthorpe. It's a special place because there are precious few spots like this where she can spend time…
Large red damselfly
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…
Local Development Plans (LDP) Process
A Local Development Plan (LDP) is a strategic document written by the Local Planning Authority, setting out how much development should take place in the area, what kinds of development are needed, and where new development should be built.
Save the Wye
Life in the River Wye is silently slipping away. The crisis can be seen in the death of fish and insects, the unrelenting loss of aquatic flowers, and the huge algal blooms that turn the river green and stinking during long, hot spells. Phosphate, the chemical that creates these algal blooms and the resulting loss of oxygen in the water, is invisible. But you can see, and often smell, the main cause of the problem. Manure from chicken farms making its way into the Wye.