Bee orchid
The bee orchid is a sneaky mimic - the flower’s velvety lip looks like a female bee. Males fly in to try to mate with it and end up pollinating the flower. Sadly, the right bee species doesn’t…
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Chwilio
Common cuttlefish
Cuttlefish are related to squids and octopuses – a group of molluscs known as cephalopods. You may have seen the chalky internal shell, called a cuttlebone washed up on beaches around the UK.…
My close up
Once a month, Robert attends his local Wildlife Watch group in Nottinghamshire. He’s been going for over a year now and has made lots of new friends; most of all, though, he loves how much he has…
Lords-and-ladies
Look for the unusual flowers of lords-and-ladies in spring woodlands: a pale green sheath surrounds a spike of tiny, yellow flowers. This spike eventually forms a familiar, short stalk of striking…
Common carp
The common carp is a very large fish that is popular with anglers due to its size and fighting spirit. It frequents ponds, gravel pits and lakes, but is not native to the UK, being introduced in…
Sphagnum moss
Sphagnum mosses carpet the ground with colour on our marshes, heaths and moors. They play a vital role in the creation of peat bogs: by storing water in their spongy forms, they prevent the decay…
My remedy
Elise has been coming to Potted Histories for four years. The activities help her overcome the pain that arthritis causes her, and to cope better with her diabetes because being outside makes her…
My opening night
In the drama of the open spaces around her, Emily can play the role of a lifetime. She knows the wildlife of the nature reserve as intimately as Yorick knew Hamlet, and with an audience of birds,…
The journey to return beavers to Welsh waterways
Once upon a time the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) would have been a common sight across Wales. This large semi-aquatic rodent with its brown or black fur, characteristic orange front teeth and a…
My outreach
Elliott has turned his passion for the natural world into study and that study into a career. He now spends his days sharing his wildlife knowledge with people of all ages, from 4-year-old’s…
How to create a mini pond
Even a small pond can be home to an interesting range of wildlife, including damsel and dragonflies, frogs and newts. Any pond can become a feeding ground for birds, hedgehogs and bats – the best…
Quail
This tiny gamebird is rarely seen, but its distinctive "wet my lips" call can be heard ringing out over areas of farmland on summer evenings.