School half term is almost upon us, and I suspect that many among you – especially those with children or grandchildren – may take advantage of the glorious weather and sneak in a trip to the beach. 

Exploring rockpools is great fun at any age. Illustration: Chris Shields (rspb-images.com)

Even if your youngsters are all about the sandcastles and paddling, our coasts offer plenty of contact with the natural…

May is the best month of the year for wildlife (in my opinion!) and there is so much to see, including plenty of really special species, so I thought I'd whet your appetite with some snapshots I took on my phone of some of the treasures I tracked down over the weekend. We've been getting some great photos from Nature's Home magazine readers from the spring, including a hoopoe discovered by one lucky reader…

Large red damselfly by Janet Turnbull

I've been seeing more and more dragonflies and damselflies in the lovely weather this week, starting with nice views of a variable damselfly (a localised species) at one of my local patches - Paxton Pits - last weekend followed by good numbers of large red damselflies, four-spotted chasers and hairy hawker (another scarce species) here at The Lodge this week…

For me, this time of year is ‘peak lushness’ on the garden front. 

Everything’s still so fresh and green; bright leaves unfurling as spring blossoms fade, while other trees and flowers burst into riotous bloom. The lawn aspires to meadowhood by each weekend, and the air is filled with bees and butterflies. It’s a glorious time out there and I hope you’re all enjoying your gardens as much as I am.…

One of my favourite catchphrases from classic Saturday afternoon '80s TV show, and the more recent big screen film, "The A Team" was Hannibal's "I love it when a plan comes together". As I stood in my garden at the weekend staring at the above scene, I found myself uttering the very same phrase. Here's why.

I went to great lengths a couple of summers ago to try to turn a negative into…

Starlings. Hypnotic in both murmurations and up close. Their iridescent coat glimmers often in supermarket car parks (well in my experience anyway) or gardens across the UK.

After a rather warm week this red-listed species was caught majestically gleaming in Donald Bibby’s bird bath. The colours in this photo are remarkable and Donald has captured the beauty of an often understated bird.

In the spotlight, Nature…

In our current issue, you’ll find a whole spread (p18-19) of wildlife-related things to see and do this month. How about looking out for hairy dragonflies, the UK’s smallest hawker species, which is on the wing this month, ahead of its larger cousins? You can look out for the hairy, black and blue dragonfly sunning itself around ditches near grazing marshes, gravel and canals. 

Life is truly sprinting into…

It’s officially reptile season and here in the UK you can find six native reptile species all of which have been snapped by our resident wildlife photographer Ben Andrew (he’s won awards you know). You may have read our Nature’s Home photography segment in Spring’s Wild About… where he gives the low down on how to capture these slithery species. Here’s his almighty tips in action.

Everyone loves a dipper, right? And better still, two dippers! I thought we were well overdue a cracking bird pic for photo of the week, and this shot sent in by Nature's Home reader Trevor Hupton does the job nicely. Thanks Trevor!

The one on the right looks like it's just said something secretive to the other, worried it's been overheard - I wonder what dippers talk about? (Photo: Trevor Hupton)

Dip…

It’s the lusty month of May, when everything goes blissfully astray *… and let’s include our gardens in that. Prompted by recent copious sunshine and rain, all green things are racing skywards - and that includes many that you may think of as weeds. 

Many of these weeds are, however, beneficial rather than noxious. But if these weeds are winning, why not keep them as offerings to the local wildlife…

What is and isn’t an Arctic tern?

Grouped in the gulls and terns bird family (Laridae), Arctic terns are one of several species of tern that visit the UK in summer to breed. Though largely seen on the coast, occasionally you might see an Arctic tern inland migrating in spring or autumn. Common terns are, as the name suggests, more readily seen in summer across the UK. I still struggle to quickly tell apart many…

Up there in my favourite animals is the seal (not far behind the flamingo and the elephant) making me smile every time I see one. There expressive faces bring me an exceptional amount of joy. In fact, it was on Sunday just gone that I took myself to Horsey Beach in Norfolk to see the common seals they have there. Just as I got close enough the rain hit. We spent a couple of minutes watching these wonderful creatures before…

By now, members should have received your Summer issue of Nature’s Home magazine – aptly heralded by last weekend’s glorious blaze of sunshine (which I hope you all enjoyed – I did, but got burnt shoulders while re-landscaping my garden). 

I shared a sneak peek of the issue a few weeks back, and as you can see from the cover, we’re highlighting the plight of the UK’s puffins with a story on how the people…

Here we go, some lovely warm weather. Just what we’ve all been waiting for. As we well know it’s not just us that’ve been teased over the past few weeks. Our minibeast friends have been on the hunt for some sun too. And being a beekeeper I’m always on the lookout for the hum of pollinators whenever the sun hits.

On those sunny days few and far between, I have revelled in a bit of gardening alongside…

I'm a bit jealous of this little bank vole. It's found a great place to call home. Lush greenery in the safety of a nature lover and RSPB member's garden - what could be better than that? This shot had to get photo of the week this week, despite all the other superb images readers of Nature's Home have been sending in after the latest issue began mailing last week. There's so many to choose from, but as…

Dig out your RSPB membership card - the sun’s out (sometimes) and it’s time to get out there under the treetops or along the waterways and enjoy the busiest time of year. 

Embrace nature on the bank holiday weekend – absolutely free! (Photo: Eleanor Bentall, rspb-images.com)

Your RSPB membership not only entitles you to 100 glorious pages of Nature’s Home magazine (full of seasonal sights…

Have you got a collection? I imagine many of you do, and it could be anything from something traditional like stamps, to unusual like handheld vacuums as a friend at primary school used to collect. Interesting chap…

But what got me thinking about collections is a tiny paragraph in the most recent Nature’s Home magazine, tucked away in the newly refreshed Wild About section. I don’t really collect anything…

Slime mould, what do we know about it? Personally, not much so when I spotted this weeks photo of the week I wanted to delve a little bit deeper into the kingdom Protista of which metatrichia floriformis (pictured below) belongs. So here are three facts about slime mould to get your brains wurring ahead of the weekend:

1. Worldwide there are over 900 species of slime moulds. The one below is metatrichia floriformis found…

Did you know that as well as amazing wildlife watching opportunities our reserves also offer a wealth of great events, and even partnership holidays? You don’t have to go abroad to enjoy a spectacular wildlife holiday, with the UK offering everything from basking sharks off the Scottish coast to adders nestled in the heart of the New Forest. And it’s those one-in-a-lifetime moments that will stay with you.…

It’s been great spending time with RSPB members at The RSPB Weekend held at the University of Nottingham over the last three days. With it being the magic month of April with lots of bird activity and incoming migrants, it was also pretty good for bird sightings and many people went home with some nice species marked in their notebooks - me included.

Those who joined me and my fellow guides on the early morning…

Dare I say it, spring may finally have sprung. Well at least here at RSPB HQ it has. Rain has poured this week but yesterday saw a superbly sunny day. Newts were swimming, brimstone butterflies were fluttering and we all got a strong dose of vitamin D.

Spring is a beautiful time of the year, the sound of bird song and the essence of new life. Arguably, none cuter than that of a baby duck. I mean who doesn’t love baby…

It suddenly looks like spring has finally arrived, and as we move into April - the last month covered by the Spring issue of Nature’s Home's "Wild About" section, in which you’ll find ways to enjoy this month’s wildlife on page 22 - I'm celebrating an opportunity to make the most of the sunshine and get outdoors and into nature... at last!

We made the most of today’s glorious sunshine…

I'm delighted to present a guest blog from RSPB Reserves Ecologist Kelly Thomas who reveals the importance to wildlife of our often-neglected dead wood. As the leaves start to come out on the trees, spare a thought for this vital habitat and maybe have a think about what you can do to leave more of it on your patch. Here's Kelly.

What do you imagine when someone mentions dead wood? Perhaps a tree that has declined…

This week saw this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch results announced, and, thanks to those who participated, over 6.7 million birds were counted across UK gardens.

I myself had a slightly disappointing Big Garden Birdwatch with just 2 collared doves turning up over the hour I participated. Although I enjoyed watching as they both tried to balance on one section of my feeding station, I did wonder why the four jays I’d…

Despite the pressures of press deadlines, I always love “putting an issue to bed” - sending forth into the world a batch of print files to be turned into shiny new copies of Nature’s Home magazine, packed from cover to cover with the fruits of our labour, and that of our many expert contributors who make it all possible. 

That’s what’s been keeping us busy for the past week or so, but I’m extra excited…