Bishop's House Garden throwing open gates to welcome wildlife and people

On Sunday 13^th September, Norwich’s ‘Bishop’s House Garden’ will be throwing open its gates to the public for a fun packed fundraising ‘garden party’ in aid of wildlife at the RSPB’s Strumpshaw Fen, who are the organizers. Children, families and people of all ages are given a rare opportunity to explore…

Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer

Well we have come full circle, my name is Adam and I love plants and gardening. I dismissed plants outright when I chose Zoology over Biology (including botany) for my undergraduate degree. My shoulders sank and I huffed at the thought of doing chores in the garden as a kid. Now look at me, #OperationWildTimes is up and running and you and I are now in a world of “plantification…

Giving Nature a Home poll

Over 1,800 people answered our recent Giving Nature a Home poll, including questions about theirs and their neighbours garden. A brilliant 75% of participants agreed it is important to encourage wildlife into their gardens, but a surprising 73% hadn't spoken to their neighours in the past six months about how they can help wildlife in their garden! 

Grey squirrels are commonplace in East…

Author: Clare Whitelegg, edited by Emily McParland

“What’s your favourite bird?” This is a question Clare Whitelegg, our Schools Outreach Officer, is regularly asked by school pupils. It’s a tough question, but as part of the ‘Big Schools' Birdwatch’ sessions we've been running in local schools this term, many children are discovering their favourite bird for the first time.…

Author: Lizzie Bruce, Warden, The Lodge nature reserve

On a warm spring evening whilst out on the heath here at The Lodge Nature Reserve you may be lucky enough to hear the strange rasping croak of the natterjack toad.

Today they are Britain’s rarest amphibian but this has not always been the case as highlighted in Janet Browne’s biography of well known English naturalist, Charles Darwin.

‘We had a very…

Blogger: Alex Johnson, Garden Designer: DesignWild Associates

It is with heart in mouth that designers go back to gardens that they have designed. In my case, I had less to fear, having seen photos of the [RSPB Flatford Wildlife] garden taken in the two years since its completion, and heard from my design partner Catherine Heatherington who had made some visits in the interim.

During its conception, a garden lives in…

Carol Miller, Community Fundraising Volunteer

In the early morning mist of mid-October, I set off for my pre-booked 90 minute Red Deer Safari. As I waited for the start of the safari outside the visitor centre, I watched various birds visiting the bird feeders including long tailed tits, great tits, and blue tits. A jay was flying around the trees nearby and a squirrel scurried along the path, stopped in front of me…

The little tern is one of the UK’s rarest seabirds, having suffered chronic declines over the past 25 years. These little birds travel a 6,000 mile round trip each year to breed on the beaches of the British Isles, but their numbers have been declining as they struggle to find safe beaches to nest and feed their young, free from predators and human disturbance.

In the 1980s there were 2,500 breeding pairs, this…

Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer

How are you coping with the summer holidays? A bit soggy around the edges as you dodge the thunder storms? Noticed that the roads are quieter and your usual haunts are “full of screaming kids”/children having fun? Or have you managed to get away from it all and enjoy some natural spectacles like the wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings?

With my…

We are so excited to be able to share with you the news that BBC Springwatch will be broadcasting from a brand-new home at our lovely RSPB Minsmere on the beautiful Suffolk coast this year!

The three-week long wildlife party, hosted by Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and Martin Hughes-Games starts on Monday 26^th May and stretches right through to Thursday 12^th June.

With over 5,600 plant and animal species recorded…

Blogger: Erica Howe, Communications Officer

With a few days of January left all I can say is it has been a funny old month! I’ve seen people out and about wearing flip flops, I’ve even seen folk out in the city with shorts on. I’ve seen people eating their lunch outside and I’ve been out on my bike with only a few light layers on. Hardly typical behaviour for January. Then again, looking out my window it has started…

This blog post originally appeared as an article in Cambridge News.

By Rebecca Green, RSPB Community Engagement Officer

Pollinators and their many forms

If you’ve been out exploring the local countryside this summer, you’ll have noticed that it is is abuzz with pollinating insects. While some of us have been lucky enough to relax on our holidays, these hard working invertebrates haven’t stopped!

Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer

I grew up hating gardening. It was that chore my Mum and Dad made me and my siblings do to earn pocket money. Mow the lawn, do the weeding, dig a hole or two (don’t ask). When all we really wanted to do was go play on our spokey-dokey laden BMX bikes or run across to the field opposite to play in the little wood and get grubby.

I am now in my mid-thirties, have…

Blogger: Lex Gardner, RSPB Volunteer

My name is Lex and I recently managed to raise just over a hundred pounds for Operation Turtle Dove.

When I first set out, I wanted to think of a different and possibly challenging way to raise some funds. I had a little experience working in music and gigs so, naturally, I put two and two together. I quickly found I might have bitten off more than I could chew because I was used…

This blog is worth a read:

Is this the world record for House Sparrow nestboxes?

Author: Jim Scott - Site Manager of RSPB Snettisham Reserves

Snettisham is rich in history. The village, the beach and the reserve all have a story to tell.

A discovery of precious metals, known as the Snettisham Hoard, suggests that people have settled in Snettisham village since the Iron Age. Later, people opted to establish communities in this lovely little village, with some of the oldest buildings date back to…

Blogger: Rachael Murray, Projects Officer

The colour green has, in recent years, been adopted as the hue of choice for endeavours including environmentally friendliness, recycling and energy efficiency.  It is a tone imbued with an inherent sense of ‘goodness’; to be ‘green’ is to be kind to the world. Isn’t it?

I’m going to have to make a confession.  Before I worked for the RSPB I…

I walked into work this morning fresh with thoughts about a new year, a new calendar and new adventures. It’s amazing how therapeutic a clean slate is. It’s the 2 January and heading back to work feels the same, but different! It’s funny how we take to a new year, with renewed enthusiasm, the promise of making a change for the better. The irony being that every year, we say the same things!

I arrived…

The countryside may be awash with crimson red and burnt orange, but a sinister force is creating a dark cloud over Autumn in the UK.

Chalara fraxinea (try pronouncing that after a glass of red wine!) is a disease that has decimated Ash tree species throughout Northern Europe, already affecting over 90% of Ash trees in Denmark and Sweden and is present as far as Belgium.

Until recently the UK was unaffected, but it now…

Author Emily Kench

The knot is a medium sized dumpy shorebird. On the face of it, it’s nothing special, and its name appears just as plain.

Knot on The Wash, RSPB Snettisham. Photo by Andy Hay

But what’s in a name?  Well this name is thought to be steeped in history. You may have seen a blog on this topic last week, but here is a more in depth look at the origin of the name knot.

King Canute (or King…

As I watched the first week of BBC Springwatch last month (is it June already?!), it was impossible not to marvel at the technical and cultural achievement of the series' producers in painting this intimate portrait of our native wildlife. Familiar recurring characters the blue tits and wrens sit alongside new cast members like the leverets (young hares) and little owl on our TV screens, while the perennially engaging…

Blogger: Aggie Rothon, Communications Officer

I’ve written before about the constant battle I have with ‘mess’ in my house. I am forever shoving things in to cupboards or hoovering gerbil bedding from behind the table. Some tell me it comes with the territory of sharing a house with a five-year old but I’ve come to realise I can’t lay the blame entirely at that particular dinosaur-stickered door …

Monitoring Montagu's harriers 

Written by Emma Tovell

Following in the footsteps of the satellite tracking of three Montagu’s harriers Mo, Madge and Mark in 2014, the project  to monitor the movements of the UK’s rarest breeding bird of prey is once again underway in East Anglia. The project is led by Dutch researchers from the “Montagu’s Harrier Foundation” alongside conservationists from…

Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer

In the words of Mr Meatloaf 2, out of three aint bad. In other words, I am so nearly there with completing our wildlife garden that keeps everyone happy. Last weekend I referred back to the Giving Nature a Home guide that I downloaded for free here. Below you can see our progress so far in reaching that Nirvana state... 

Step 1: Grow flowering plants

I have a increasing…

Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer

Did you enjoy this year’s Hampton Court Flower Show (my 10 year old self would never thought I would be saying that)? Some top plants there and a bit of plant envy on my behalf. Which were your favourites? It is great to see such a variety of plants from around the world, inspiring the designs. I particularly liked A Space to Connect & Grow, Hedgehog Street  and the…