26 March 2020
It’s frogspawn season - one of the most exciting events in nature’s calendar. We look forward to it every year, eagerly awaiting the return of the frogs to water. Will they make it safely back to the garden pond after their winter sleep, and when will they arrive? Will they spawn this year? When will it appear, and how much will there be?
10 March 2020
Nomenclature is the science of naming, with rules and systems for organising species and giving each one an official two-part title. But there is also an art to the naming of things and often a sense of magic, especially when it comes to common names.
06 March 2020
Goose Barnacles, can be found in their thousands still clinging to their driftwood raft on the strandline, They once puzzled people for hundreds of years.
02 March 2020
Birdsong is making a comeback. Just as we’ve got used to the relative quiet of the long winter months, the first tentative notes of nearly-spring spark an instant remembrance of what’s been missing all this time.
21 February 2020
We have a word to describe this innate connection with nature: biophilia. Nature is essential to our very existence but it also makes us happy, and there’s a growing body of evidence describing how the natural world helps to boost our health and wellbeing.
18 February 2020
Ponds across the county will soon be filling up with an army of amorous frogs, and in this case love can be a battleground
17 February 2020
It’s not unusual for Grey Herons to begin nesting in February, and as one of our largest birds their activity can be hard to miss. They are an imposing sight on the riverbank, standing tall and motionless at the water’s edge as they wait with seemingly endless patience for a potential meal to pass by.
31 January 2020
Winter is a busy season for foxes. If there are any living near you – and there probably are – you’ll be well aware of just how active they are at this time of year, yapping and screaming at all hours of the night and leaving plenty of unmistakable foxy scent.
19 January 2020
Cormorants are supremely skilled at catching fish and will dive to depths of six metres or more in pursuit of their prey, staying submerged for a good 30 seconds before coming up for air.
12 January 2020
Starlings spectacular star-studded winter plumage develops a glossy sheen of sumptuous purple and green iridescence for the breeding season, glistening with galactic colour.