Bee orchid
The bee orchid is a sneaky mimic - the flower’s velvety lip looks like a female bee. Males fly in to try to mate with it and end up pollinating the flower. Sadly, the right bee species doesn’t…
Chwilio
Speckled wood butterfly - Vicky Nall
Chwilio
My rainbow maker
Sarah lives in a beautiful part of Radnorshire and wants to share her magical, mossy waterfall with everyone. Sometimes when the light shines through the spray a rainbow is born. She has a jar…
Parent bug
The parent bug lives up to its name. The female lays her eggs on a silver birch leaf, watching over them until they hatch. She stays with the young until they are adults. Other shield bugs lay…
Violet click beetle
The violet click beetle is a very rare beetle that lives in decaying wood, particularly common beech and ash. It gets its name from its habit of springing upwards with an audible click if it falls…
Song of the Spinnies - Part 4: The Viley Hide
As the newest addition, many visitors to the Spinnies Aberogwen Nature Reserve might miss this hide as they travel through the nature reserve. But with extremely good lighting for photos and with…
Our 'Our Wild Coast' story...
Ysgol Tir Morfa in Rhyl have been participating in the project now for nearly two years. Here is teacher Sara Griffith’s moving account of their first year with us, from the experiences they’ve…
Beadlet anemone
Have you ever seen those dark red jelly blobs whilst rockpooling? These incredible creatures are beadlet anemones! They live attached to rocks all around the coast of the UK, the base of their…
Graceful grasslands of a limestone landscape
Join Project Officer, Craig Wade, as he explores the fascinating limestone grasslands of Moel Hiraddug, known as Dyserth Mountain – an Iron Age hillfort, also a former quarry, and now forming rare…
Create your own meadow or wildflower patch
The autumn is a good time to sow a perennial native meadow (perennial means that the flowers come back year after year without having to re-seed them). It’s in fact the ideal time for flowers like…
Lowland mixed oak and ash wood
Lowland mixed oak and ash woods include the iconic bluebell woods so central to our notion of British woodland. Mostly quite small and bounded by ancient banks, they are full of history. At their…
Invasive non-native species
Invasive non-native species – also known simply as invasive species or INNS - have been introduced by humans, intentionally or unintentionally, beyond their natural range. Acknowledged as one of the top five drivers of biodiversity loss globally, their spread threatens the survival of our native species, and can cause damage to our environment, economy, our health and the way we live.
My happy place
When the stresses of life get too much, I take a walk through Attenborough Nature Reserve - a form of free therapy. The fresh air, the bird calls, the beauty of nature surrounding me, is calming.…