My classroom
Passionate about the oceans and the diverse life that they hold, Bex is lucky enough to be able to teach scuba diving to university students at Plymouth University. This provides her with the…
Search
Chwilio
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.
Common sea-lavender
Common sea-lavender can be found around our coasts on mudflats, creek banks and saltmarshes. Despite its name, its not a lavender at all, so doesn’t smell like one.
Garden tiger moth
The garden tiger is an attractive, brown-and-white moth of sand dunes, woodland edges, meadows and hedgerows; it will also visit gardens. In decline, it is suffering from the 'tidying up…
Sedge warbler
In summer, the sedge warbler can be spotted singing from a reed or willow perch in wetlands across the UK. Males never sing the same song twice, adding new phrases to impress the females.
American mink
Escaped or intentionally freed from fur farms in the 1960s, the American mink is now well established in the UK. Its carnivorous nature is a threat to our native water vole and seabird populations…
Bracken
Our most familiar fern, bracken can be found growing in dense stands on hillsides, moorland, heathland and in woodlands. It is very large and dies back in winter, turning the landscape orangey-…
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.
Silver Y
The Silver Y migrates to the UK in massive numbers each year - sometimes, an estimated 220 million can reach our shores in spring! Seen throughout the year, it is very common in gardens and…
How to identify swifts, swallows, sand martins and house martins
Learn how to identify swifts, swallows and martins. These birds are all summer visitors to the UK. Here's how you can find the difference between a swift and a swallow or work out what kind of martin you could have spotted!
Portuguese Man O'War
Despite appearances, this weird and wonderful creature is not a jellyfish! They're sometimes found washed up on our shores after westerly winds. Look but don't touch - they give a very…
Bloody crane's-bill
Bloody crane's-bill has striking magenta flowers that pepper our rare limestone pavements, grasslands and sand dunes with summer colour. It is a favourite of all kinds of insects, including…