Mid July breeding birds and other sightings
Lots of bird activity around the reserve, wildflowers blooming and insect life to be investigated.
Lots of bird activity around the reserve, wildflowers blooming and insect life to be investigated.
Creeping buttercup is our most familiar buttercup - the buttery-yellow flowers are like little drops of sunshine peppering garden lawns, parks, woods and fields.
Despite being considered a 'weed' of cultivated ground, the seeds of the Creeping thistle provide an important food source for farmland birds, many of which are declining rapidly.
As its name suggests, creeping bent runs along the ground before it bends and grows upright. It is a common grass of arable land, waste ground and grasslands.
Creeping jenny is a low-growing plant of wet grasslands, riverbanks, ponds and wet woods. It has cup-like, yellow flowers and is a popular choice for garden ponds.
The gadwall is a dabbling duck, feeding at the surface of shallow water by 'upending' - putting its head down and its bottom up! Only a small number of gadwall nest in the UK, but large…
One of our most common butterflies, the meadow brown can be spotted on grasslands, and in gardens and parks, often in large numbers. There are four subspecies of meadow brown.
The bar-tailed godwit winters in the UK in the thousands; look for it around estuaries like the Thames and Humber. In spring, the males display arresting breeding plumage, with brick-red heads,…
This large, brown beetle can be seen swarming around streetlights in spring. They live underground as larvae for years and emerge as adults often in large numbers. Listen for their characteristic…
Edible periwinkles are a common sight when rockpooling and can be found in huge numbers on the shore.
The common scoter has suffered large declines in the UK, threatening its survival here. Look out for this duck feeding at sea in winter when its numbers are bolstered by migrating birds.
Living up to its name, the shoveler has a large and distinctive shovel-like bill which it uses to feed at the surface of the water. It breeds in small numbers in the UK, but is widespread in…