Blue Tit

Smaller than the great tit, the blue tit is also a bird of woodland, parks and gardens. It nests in holes in trees, but is just as happy to use nestboxes. Blue tits are active feeders, hunting out insects and spiders among the smaller branches and leaves of trees in woodlands. But they are also well-adapted to gardens and towns and will visit birdtables and peanut feeders; they are even famed...

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...