Black Cap – “The Northern Nightingale”

The blackcap, sometimes referred to as the northern nightingale, is a distinctive greyish warbler, the male has a black cap, and the female black cap has a chestnut one. Its delightful fluting song has earned it the name ‘northern nightingale’. Although primarily a summer visitor birds from Germany and north-east Europe are increasingly spending the winter in the UK. Male...

‘Bluebell (UK)’

The National Trust is one of the most important organisations in the UK for bluebell conservation. A quarter of the Trust’s woodland is ancient or semi-natural; the ideal habitats for bluebells. Here are six facts you may not know about them: 1. The bluebell has many names: English Bluebell, Wild Hyacinth, Wood Bell, Bell Bottle, Cuckoo’s Boots, Wood Hyacinth, Lady’s Nightcap and...

It takes a pair of Swallows up to 1,200 journeys to build a nest.

Swallows belong to the family Hirundininae which also includes martins. There are 84 recognised species worldwide. They are not even distantly related to swifts. Our familiar swallow, Hirundo rustica, is generally known as the barn swallow. It breeds throughout the Northern Hemisphere including every European country except Iceland. The barn swallow is the world’s most widespread...

In a recent article the Daily Mail reported that “Sightings of every listed butterfly species in the UK fell last year – as numbers continue to fall due to the loss of land that is suitable for the insects to lay their eggs”

‘Painted Lady Butterfly’ ‘Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly’ ‘Peacock Butterfly’ The type that saw the greatest decline was the painted lady – with a 38.5 per cent drop in gardeners spotting them compared with in 2020. Over the last two years, sightings of this species have almost halved, with only 16 per cent of respondents to a survey stating...