The 2121 Big Butterfly count takes place from Friday 16th July to Sunday 8th August. The Butterfly conservation trust asks people to spend 15 minutes in a sunny spot and count the number of butterflies that they see. So, if you are out volunteering in...
Fragmentation of habitat plays a major role in the decline of species and, as ecological research seeks for more evidence of the changing conditions across a wider landscape, increasing problems from the spread of tree diseases are adding to these threats to survival. In some...
If you pass through the small town of Moretonhampstead during the month of June you may see an array of fascinating flags that line the routes in and out, arching over you as you move through the narrow streets. In a rainbow of colours, they...
The Buttercups are now blooming in Haddon Wood and there are three different species, so I thought it would be nice to look at them. Interestingly the name Buttercup did not come into common use until the middle of the eighteenth century. Before that there...
Dear South West Volunteers I wanted to wish you all a very happy National Volunteers Week and thank you for all your hard work and dedication. Thank you to the volunteers who have been able to continue volunteering for us during the restrictions, and to those...
In so many cases where the abundance of wild species is falling, there is often a link with human activity, whether it is connected to pollution, changing climate and weather patterns or the loss of habitat from the development or depletion of natural features in...
On a rather damp Sunday morning a group of dedicated and trained volunteers went out to Duncliffe wood to check our nest boxes They had an unexpectedly successful visit. Other local woodland trust woods checked earlier this month didn’t reveal any Tawny owls but Duncliffe did...
In the ninth instalment of our “Bird of the Month” blog we go looking for one of Fingle’s less common species… but not where its name might suggest! By early April, although hard frosts still cover the valley floor on cold nights, there are signs of...
When the medieval inhabitants of the Teign valley introduced a herd of fallow deer to Whiddon Deer park, they could scarcely have imagined that 500 years later, we would be counting their descendants as they wander through Fingle Woods at night. It would be even...
Devon’s landscapes are often considered to be among the most beautiful and diverse in the country. From the wind-swept moors and steep river valleys of Dartmoor, rolling through the lush green hills of south Devon to the towns, estuaries and beaches along the sparkling coast,...