Red ant
Turn over large stones or paving slabs in the garden and you are likely to find a red ant colony. This medium-sized ant can deliver a painful sting, so be careful! In summer, winged adults swarm…
Chwilio
Speckled wood butterfly - Vicky Nall
Chwilio
Lowland dry oak and birch wood
Gnarled veteran oaks are interspersed with groves of pale, elegant birches, while swathes of bracken and soft tussocks of wavy hair-grass cover ground from which autumn fungi sprout.…
Sand sedge
Sand sedge is an important feature of our coastal sand dunes, helping to stabilise the dunes, which allows them to grow up and become colonised by other species.
Caledonian forest
Caledonian forest forms an integral part of some of our wildest landscapes - extensive pine forests merge with heathlands, wetlands and montane habitats and create areas large enough for wildcat,…
Rosebay willowherb
A tall plant, Rosebay willowherb is a successful coloniser; it can form dense stands of bright pink flower spikes on disturbed ground, such as woodland clearings, verges and waste ground.
Silver birch
A spindly tree of heathland and moorlands, and dry and sandy soils, the Silver birch is well known for its paper-thin, white bark. It is a great coloniser and can quickly spread in an area.
Common squid
The common squid is a weird and wonderful predator found all around our coasts.
Dog's mercury
Often seen carpeting the floor of ancient woodlands, Dog's mercury can quickly colonise, its fresh green leaves shading out rarer plants. It is also very poisonous.
Honeycomb worm
Ever spotted a honeycomb-like mound on the beach and wondered what it was? It's a reef built entirely by worms!
Atlantic oak wood
These are the atmospheric oak woods of the Celtic upland fringes, where the mild, moist oceanic climate allows luxurious mats of mosses to carpet the rocky ground and creep up gnarled trunks,…
My recovery plan
Michelle was diagnosed with breast cancer in the summer of 2014. After undergoing a life-saving operation and an intensive chemotherapy course, she is on the road to recovery.
Wildlife…
Marram grass
The dense, spiky tufts of Marram grass are a familiar sight on our windswept coasts. In fact, its matted roots help to stabilise sand dunes, allowing them to grow up and become colonised by other…