Stag beetles have started to appear again in Flatford Wildlife Garden, so it seems like a good time to take a closer look at these fascinating insects.  

Stag beetles live most of their long life cycle underground as a larva. The larvae spend between 3 and 7 years underground, munching on rotten wood and building up sufficient energy to emerge and mate when they reach adulthood. During this time, they shed their skin up to…

One of the benefits of No Mow May in my own garden has been to provide a habitat for the slow worm. We were excited to spot one on a sunny May morning, basking in some warmth before sliding off into our long grass. 

The slow worm is one of the UK's 6 native reptiles, the others being the common lizard, sand lizard, grass snake, adder and smooth snake. Contrary to appearances (and its name!), the slow worm is neither…

It's such a busy time of year in nature and in our gardens. The grass is growing fast, especially after all the recent rain, and it is tempting to cut it back to keep our gardens tidy. However it is not just the grass which is growing - amongst it are countless wildflowers, providing a vital food source for our pollinators. This is why the charity Plantlife is urging us to keep the mowers in the shed for the month…

It's that exciting time of year when the summer migrant birds start to appear back in the UK. Swallows and house martins have been spotted in the skies above Flatford Wildlife Garden - a true sign that summer is on its way. 

A summer migrant that we can help in our own gardens is the swift. Sadly, swifts numbers have dropped dramatically in recent years, resulting in swifts being added to the Red UK Conservation Status…

It's time for Flatford Wildlife Garden to open its gates full time for the season! From Friday 31st March, the garden will be open every day until 31st October, from 10:30-4:30. You will be able to see our new nest box cameras, which should hopefully see plenty of action over the next few weeks. 

The spring season kicks off with a children's trail for the Easter holidays called Whose Nest? Children will be able…

Flatford Wildlife Garden will be open this weekend for Mother's Day. You can visit on Saturday 18 or Sunday 19 March between 10:30 and 3:30. While at the garden this weekend, you'll be able to look at the spring flowering bulbs and enjoy the sight and smells of the garden reawkening after the winter. You'll even be able to collect a free daffodil! Then it's just a couple more weeks to wait until the garden opens…

Although we’re currently experiencing a cold snap, spring is not far away. Over the next few weeks, one of the many signs that spring is truly underway will be the re-emergence of hedgehogs from their winter hibernation. During hibernation, major physiological changes take place - the heart rate slows to less than 10 beats per minute, body temperature drops dramatically and breathing slows to the point that a hibernating…

This week we focus on the brilliant volunteers who keep Flatford Wildlife Garden looking so attractive to both wildlife and the visitors. Behind the scenes, a group of about 12 garden volunteers meets once a week throughout the year. The focus is on nurturing plants that have maximum benefit to wildlife, providing shelter, protection and nutrition to wildlife all year round. Planting, weeding, watering, pruning and many…

Although we are still experiencing some cold temperatures and frosty mornings, there are signs that spring is on its way. And for those pollinators that survive the winter, the flowers that we plant in our gardens can be true lifesavers, at this time of year in particular.

Take bumblebees for example. There are 24 species of bumblebee in the UK. Whilst the rest of the colony (the workers, males and old queens) dies at the…

This weekend brings one of the biggest events in the RSPB’s calendar – the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, running from 27-29 January. Every year, around 700000 people take part, making the Birdwatch the largest citizen science survey in the UK.

The Big Garden Birdwatch is vital in raising the alarm to changes in bird populations. Last time on this blog, we looked at the recorded decline in house sparrows. The…

Now that January and the new year are here, it's time to turn our attention to the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, which this year takes place on 27-29 January. By counting the birds in your garden, local park, RSPB reserve or even at a window feeder for just one hour, you, along with hundreds of thousands of other like-minded nature lovers, can take action to protect our birds for generations to come. 

The results of the…

Today is World Soil Day, a United Nations initiative aimed at highlighting the huge importance of soil in providing the world with healthy food and the need for sustainable soil management across the globe. Soil is a hugely rich resource - amazingly, one tablespoon of soil contains more living organisms than there are people on earth!

According to the UN, 95% of our food globally comes from soil. But over the last 70…

As temperatures finally start to drop to more normal November levels, we can now expect to see more of our winter visitors from the north, such as redwings. The UK's smallest thrush migrates from Scandinavia and Iceland during autumn, from late September onwards. Redwings migrate predominantly at night, moving mainly when the sky is clear and the wind is in the east. Whilst migrating, they maintain contact with each…

Ivy (Hedera helix) is one of those plants that can look rather scruffy and unruly in our gardens, particularly at this time of year. But its value to our garden wildlife cannot be overestimated, so it's really important to resist the urge to cut it all back for a good tidy up! Over recent weeks, flowering ivy has been providing a vital source of pollen and nectar for pollinators. Just as most flowering plants are dying off…

We may be about to see many bats as decorations and dressing up costumes over the next ten days, but in nature bats are now hard to spot as they are about to enter their long hibernation period. Amazingly, bats represent almost a quarter of all UK mammals! Here in the UK, we have some 18 species of bat, 17 of which breed on the British mainland. The largest UK bat is the noctule, which weighs the same as four £1 coins…

In recent weeks, some visitors to the pond at RSPB Flatford Wildlfe Garden have been treated to a sighting of one of the UK’s most intriguing small mammals – the water shrew. The largest of the three British shrews (the other being the common shrew and the pygmy shrew), the water shrew can grow to a length of 9cm, with a tail of up to 8cm. It has a dark grey or black back, with a white underside. The water…

As we pass the equinox and summer fades into autumn in our gardens, it’s all too tempting to have a good clear up by removing the old spent flowers. However, these could provide a vital food and habitat source for our wildlife over the challenging autumn and winter months to come.

Goldfinch (carduelis carduelis) perched on teasel seedhead

Photo: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)

Here at Flatford Wildlife Garden, we…

It has been a busy summer at Flatford Wildlife Garden, with plenty of visitors of both the human and animal varieties! Like many lucky gardeners this year, we were treated to a visit from a hummingbird hawkmoth. According to the British Trust for Ornithology, it has been a bumper year for these striking moths in the UK, with 5.2% of gardens surveyed reporting a sighting, compared to just 1.3% in a typical year. It seems…

This weekend, one of the hottest of the year, families gathered at Flatford for a RSPB Big Wild Sleepout event. Arriving on Saturday afternoon, children joined in first with activities under the shade of the gazebos, including making a souvenir pendant, creating a clay animal or playing in the mud kitchen. Once the tents were all put up in the field, families gathered in Flatford Wildlife Garden to cook their evening…

Last week saw the start of Butterfly Conservation’s annual Big Butterfly Count. Sadly, many of our butterflies are in serious decline. Many of us have anecdotal experience of seeing fewer butterflies around than in our childhoods, or enjoying fewer butterflies on a buddleia bush in our garden. Such observations are borne out in the statistics, with Butterfly Conservation reporting that 70% of species have declined…

As the temperatures continue to rise and schools approach the end of term, thoughts turn to the long summer holidays ahead. There will be plenty to keep the children entertained at Flatford Wildlife Garden this summer, with activities to suit a range of ages.

Each week will have a different focus for the children’s activities, including owls, butterflies and minibeasts. Children can pick up an activity bag for £3.50 in…

Tomorrow, Saturday 2^nd July, is National Meadows Day, organised by Plantlife. Meadows are such an important part of our countryside, which need our help now more than ever! Meadows are a very special habitat, vital for a great variety of insects and small rodents along with birds such as flycatchers, larks, thrushes, finches and birds of prey. But did you know that meadows are also great for carbon storage, with research…

Our wonderful pond at Flatford Wildlife Garden is home to many invertebrates, plants and amphibians, including newts. There are three species of UK newt - the smooth (or common) newt, the palmate newt and the great crested newt. Reaching lengths of 17cm, the great crested newt is our largest species, with females growing larger than the males. The UK population of great crested newts is under threat and is of international…

This is the time of year to spend some time by the pond at RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden, or down by the nearby River Stour, looking out for newly emerging dragonflies and damselflies. Dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve, around 300 million years ago. Back then, the higher oxygen levels enabled them to grow to huge sizes, with wingspans of up to 75cm! Modern day dragonflies belong to the order O…

On this rather soggy World Bee Day, we celebrate these hard-working creatures, which sadly face enormous threats both globally and locally. Worldwide, there are around 20000 species of bee, and their pollinating powers not only help maintain global biodiversity, but also sustain the production of food vital to all of us. According to the United Nations, about 84% of crops for human consumption depend on pollinators.