Nature spoils us with its late autumn treats, but for me the arrival of our wild geese is head and shoulders above the rest. I say “our” because for almost half of the year, wild geese are very much UK birds, having swapped their Arctic homes for our comparitively mild, food-rich shores.

These are not the boisterous bread thieves that frequent your local park: these travellers raised their young in the far…

As the nights draw in and the golden leaves flutter to the ground, one question regularly flies around the office where we make the RSPB magazines. Not “are you doing the pumpkin carving competition this year?” but “did you watch Autumnwatch last night?” And, of course, the answer is always “yes”, (to both).

The first episode of Autumnwatch 2017 featured some spectacular bee-eaters…

Guest blog by Jenny Shelton, RSPB Investigations

When you see a bee-eater for the first time, darting from a treetop to swipe a bee out of the blue sky, in a flash of rainbow wingbeats, it’s easy to see why these birds are a treasure worth seeking out.

This summer a Nottinghamshire quarry was unexpectedly brightened by the arrival of seven of these southern European stunners. We think around 10,000 people flocked…

Let’s face it - we’re entering the season of mud. For the next few months, any trips through the countryside (at least, here in the wetter west) will be accompanied by a fair amount of squelching, splashing and oozing, followed by boot scraping...

Nature ebbs and flows through art and culture. Projections on cave walls transcend time, and bridge the gulf between people now and people of the past. Those early images were of life; both humans and other animals. Ever since, nature has had an intrinsic bond with art.

I have the privilege of being invited to attend the Society of Wildlife Artists annual exhibition most years, and this year I had the daunting responsibility…

On Tuesday, our Bristol-based Nature's Home magazine team headed out on a mission to ‘get under the bonnet’ of the RSPB’s work, get our hands dirty (literally - seriously, they got good and filthy!) and enjoy a day’s volunteering on a wetland island at RSPB Ham Wall, in the Somerset Levels. 

We had a great time in splendid surroundings - in the shadow of ancient Glastonbury Tor. We were kept…

While my birding friends have been filling their boots with this autumn’s fest of rare birds, my eyes have been firmly fixed on the ground for the last few weeks.

My best friend Ade was lucky enough to be in on THE birding moment of the year when an adult male Siberian blue robin was found on North Ronaldsay on Sunday. I was excited to be one of only a handful of people who knew about it before the news broke late…

As I post this, we’ve got a magazine photoshoot underway in the local woods, for an activity in the RSPB children’s magazines.  We’re always encouraging our young readers to get outside and get creative with lovely, messy things such as mud, stones and things that fall off trees.  

Rubbish weather shouldn’t be a barrier to outdoor fun - a bit of fresh air does anyone the world of good, at any time of…

Autumn feels like an ending. The last days of a spring and summer past, and the transition to a period of relative stillness. For me it is a reflective time of year, and as with any period of change there is a lot to keep you occupied.

I’ve been fascinated by decay this autumn, in all its various forms. It’s an under appreciated but essential process that brings a burst of colour on par with spring, or a summer meadow…