My Early Days
I was appointed to the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust on 20th July 2020, as Head of Nature Recovery South, after being interviewed on two Zoom meetings, a very odd experience in these strange…
Search
Chwilio
Great crested grebe
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…
Teasel
The brown, oval, spiky seed heads of the teasel are a familiar sight in all kinds of habitats, from grassland to waste ground. They are visited by goldfinches and other birds, so make good garden…
Tackling the nature crisis
The Wildlife Trusts believe that we are part of nature and that we depend on the natural world for our wellbeing and prosperity. Everything we value comes from nature and everything we do has an impact on it. We believe that nature should be a normal part of childhood and that wildlife should thrive across our landscape. However, nature is in crisis.
My focus
Sorrel has been birdwatching all of her life with her grandparents. She is passionate about promoting wildlife to children at her school and through her local Wildlife Watch group. She loves the…
Reedbed
Found between water and land, reedbeds are transitional habitats. They can form extensive swamps in lowland floodplains or fringe streams, rivers, ditches, ponds and lakes with a thin feathery…
Carrageen
This small reddish-purple seaweed grows in small branching fans on rocky shores. It is widely used in the food industry - and might have been used to produce your ice cream, beer or even jelly!…
Fallow deer
Although introduced by humans, the fallow deer has been here so long that it is considered naturalised. Look out for groups of white-spotted deer in woodland glades.
Greater plantain
Pushing its way up through the cracks in pavements, the straw-coloured flower spikes of greater plantain or 'broadleaf plantain' are a familiar sight. This 'weed' also pops up…
Banded demoiselle
The banded demoiselle can be seen flitting around slow-moving rivers, ponds and lakes. The males are metallic blue, with a distinctive dark band across their wings, and the females are a shiny…
Heathland and moorland
These wild, open landscapes stretch over large areas and are most often found in uplands. Although slow to awaken in spring, by late summer heathland can be an eye-catching purple haze of heather…
Thongweed
One of the longest seaweeds native to the UK, thongweed helps create a beautiful underwater forest to rival that of any on the land!