Drone-fly
With brown-and-orange markings, the drone-fly looks like a male honeybee, but is harmless to us. This mimicry helps to protect it from predators while it searches for nectar in gardens and urban…
With brown-and-orange markings, the drone-fly looks like a male honeybee, but is harmless to us. This mimicry helps to protect it from predators while it searches for nectar in gardens and urban…
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.
The shy and retiring bittern is a master of blending in and can be very difficult to spot in its reedbed home. It does sound like a booming foghorn, however, when it calls, so can often be heard…
This football-sized fungus can be seen in autumn, sometimes growing on grass verges.
This species can pack a powerful sting, so be sure not to get too close!
A small, day-flying moth that can often be seen visiting garden herbs.
This birch-loving moth can be seen flying on sunny days in early spring.
Wet woodlands in the UK can be wild, secretive places. Tangles of trailing creepers, tussocky sedges and lush tall-herbs conceal swampy pools and partially submerged fallen willow trunks, likely…
The common pipistrelle is so small, it can fit into a matchbox! Despite its size, it can easily eat 3,000 insects a night: look for it flitting around the garden or a lit lamp post as it chases…
The bright purple flowers of this perennial herb can be seen in a range of grassy places.
These bulky beetles can sometimes be found on flowers in woodland rides or along hedgerows.
Elaine visits Thurrock Thameside Nature Park every day if she can on her lunch break from work, to watch wildlife and unwind. As a Christian, nature makes Elaine feel connected to God and creation…