celebrating nature

British Spider Faces

A close up look at spider faces

Spider Face Off So how did an obsession with spider faces begin? When I was 14, my arachnophobic Mum came home from work one late October evening and handed me (the arachnophilic little monster she’d created) a book that she’d spotted in the library. Hallowe’en was approaching, we shared a love of it. Perhaps she […]

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Honey Bee Swarm

Swarm Season

The Joy of Bees Honey bee swarms can occur anytime from mid-spring, through the summer. From my experience, they peak in July and quickly reduce as the month fades, with August swarms quite rare. I’ve always been fascinated by bees and started beekeeping when I was 16. My mentor was my first boss and he

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Dolphin Artwork

Dolphin ID

Porpoisfully looking at Dol-Fins  When we’re lucky enough to see dolphins (or unidentified cetaceans), it’s not always easy to tell which species they are. Sometimes they leap clear or poke their heads out of the water but, more often than not, all we see is a dorsal fin and a bit of back with no

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British Cephalopods

Cephalopods

Head-foot, ink-jet brainy suckers – The Cephalopods of the British Isles Many people don’t have a clue what a cephalopod is. Even if their Greek and Latin is good the translation to ‘head-foot’ isn’t writhing with firm answers. But almost all people know what octopus and squid are and most have at least heard of

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seahorse t-shirts

Seahorses

Seahorse Conservation In the early 1990s I helped found the Fish and Aquatic Invertebrate Advisory Group for what was then the Zoo Federation of Britain and Ireland (now BIAZA). I also designed the logo. Among our first project species were seahorses. Not only were they in dire need of conservation attention and awareness, they are

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columbus crab

Castaways and the Columbus Crab

Stormy weather lures me outside  I do love the summer but I really, really love the winter storms.  Finding something as exotic as a columbus crab is a rare treat. Beachcombing in the dark with the wind howling and the waves crashing is exhilarating enough. But the chances of finding something increase it. The excitement

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Festive evergreens

Festive Evergreens

‘Christian’ Plants that reconnect us with our pagan ancestors  A celebration of festive evergreens. To most people reading this, it’s the run up to Christmas, a time of merriment and celebration. Along with dutiful communications, fear of offence and panic shopping.   Here in north west Europe, religions have tied in with early seasonal traditions. We

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echinoderms

Echinoderms

An introduction to echinoderms and their weird and wonderful lives. Have you ever lost touch with a relative? It’s a rhetorical question really because you and I are related but our ancestors lost touch hundreds or even thousands of years ago. It is, in biological terms, meant to happen, we are made both to disperse

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a celebration of seal pups

A Celebration Of Seal Pup Season

Spotting A Seal Pup – A Treat Like Christmas We’ve blogged about seals before but it seems there is always a bit more to say and seal pupping season comes round each year just like Christmas with snowy white seal pup and shingle swells.  Earlier this year too we had the treat of Wally the

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Wasp hornet and honey bees

Wonderful Wasps

Don’t let wasps ruin the end of your summer Summery weather makes us want to be outdoors but, as the season progresses some of us are pestered or terrorised by little black and yellow beings who seem intent on spoiling our fun. It is all a misunderstanding though, wasps are our allies and they are

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