Blogs

While I was counting butterflies recently, I found this monster hoverfly enjoying the fruits of the careful verge maintenance near the Buddleia Loop viewing shelter. The hornet-like size (25-30mm head to tail) indicates that it's Volucella zonaria. The proboscis appears quite large, but that may...

Hi, Unsure about choosing the right plants to get a garden that's brimming with bees? This year, if you look at the bulbs in the garden centres you'll see a cheerful bee logo on some packets. With the backing of gardening and wildlife organisations, the Bee Friendly logo - and some other similar...

15 wader species recorded around Blacktoft Sands today including the Wood sandpiper and the young spotted redshank that are looking very smart. Also spent a lot of time looking at hoverflies around the front of reception. I think there was at least 5 different types present but finding identification...

Hi Polly, its great to hear they are attracting bees, although if you are a bee and looking for a brightly coloured flower to settle on, it would be difficult to miss these, they are literally glowing with colour! Hoverflies come in various shapes and sizes, many of them try to mimic wasps and bees but...

By Joan Childs, Rye Meads Site Manager Rye Meads is not just about the birds. There are lots of different species from animals to insects to plants. Recently I've been investigating the hoverflies at the reserve. There are more than 270 species of hoverflies in the UK and we have 78 of them...

We generally recommend waiting until January or February before tackling overgrown ivy. The main reason for this is that ivy is an important plant for shelter to many garden birds. Cutting it back before the hardest months of winter removes an important habitat feature that would offer small birds like...

Already today 14 species of wader have been seen on site and the Thames forshore has not even been checked yet so that could go up! Amongst thise seen have been Avocets, Ruff and Wood Sandpiper so who knows what else could be out lurking on the pools. A Marsh Harrier and Yellow Wagtail have also added...

Aveley Pool is just getting better and better and today hosted the following species of wader: 11 Black Tailed Godwit, 11 Little Ringed Plovers, Ruff, 3 Common Terns, 5 Green Sandpipers, 3 Greenshank, 5 Snipe, Redshank along with a hawking Hobby and many Sand Martins. Down on the Thames a single...

As we enjoy our summer holidays, spare a thought for those birds that are setting off on their travels too. Have you looked up into the skies recently? Notice something missing? The swifts have gone. No longer are they racing around in flocks over our homes, showing an impressive turn of speed and ‘screaming’...