Spiral wrack
This brown seaweed lives high up on rocky shores, just below the high water mark. Its blades are usually twisted, giving it the name Spiral Wrack.
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Chwilio
Starling
The starling is a familiar garden visitor that has a beautiful purple-and-green sheen to its black feathers. It is famous for its wintry aerial displays - massive flocks can be seen wheeling over…
Thérèse Coffey’s round-table – a turning point for the River Wye, or going round in circles?
Last week, English sections of the river Wye were downgraded to 'unfavourable-declining' as a result of phosphate pollution impacting on important species such as the Atlantic salmon and…
The essential nature of nature-friendly farming
It’s Nature Friendly Farming week and a moment to register the huge importance of a nature transition in farming. It’s critical for our climate, water and food. Vicki Hird looks at the facts, as…
Nursery web spider
A common spider of heathland and grassland, the nursery web spider has brown and black stripes running the length of its body. It is an active hunter, only using its silk to create a protective…
Broad-leaved dock
Broad-leaved dock is well-known to most of us as the remedy for Stinging nettle irritations. Often considered a 'weed', it can be found next to water or on disturbed ground almost…
Cross-leaved heath
Cross-leaved heath is a type of heather that likes bogs, heathland and moorland. It has distinctive pink, bell-shaped flowers that attract all kinds of nectar-loving insects.
My history book
Tim has volunteered at Astley Moss for five years, helping to increase the water levels on the bogs back to their historic healthy levels. He especially loves watching the birds return to this…
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…
Field vole
With a population of 75 million, the field vole is one of the UK's most common mammals. Hidden among the vegetation of grassland, heathland and moorland, it is not as easily spotted as the…
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.
Wavy hair-grass
Wavy hair-grass lives up to its name: its fine, hair-like leaves and delicate flower heads can be seen shaking in the breeze of a windswept moorland or heathland.