Data from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Garden BirdWatch survey, carried out by volunteers across the UK,show a fourfold increase in the number of gardens recording a Hummingbird Hawkmoth, making 2022 a record year. These large, colourful insects are often mistaken for hummingbirds because of the way they hover over flowers and use their...
For a week or two we'd had superb moth conditions. Warm days followed by warm evenings, low wind and just the right amount of cloud! So when the moth night arrived on Friday 9th September we had great expectations! As a public event hosted by the National Wildflower Centre we started slightly earlier than usual to...
A conversation with my friend and ex-colleague Ian Grimshaw turned to our boyhood activities in 50’s and 60’s, long before games consoles and 24 hours-per-day television had taken over. Ian surprised me with a tale of his adventures, exploring neighbourhood with another friend, Derek Evans, looking for interesting creatures/finds in places like the rough ground...
The area at Formby Point managed by the National Trust has increased (520 acres) through a gift of the former tobacco waste areas by the British Nicotine Company, the purchase in 1985 of the Larkhill Lane heathland area from Ideal Homes Ltd and the recent purchase of the former agricultural area north of Wicks Lane....