Redwings foraging in Reykjavik city centre and Laugavegur street, Iceland

Redwings foraging in Reykjavik city centre and Laugavegur Street, Iceland Laugavegur Street is the main shopping street in Reykjavik, full of coffee shops, touristy gift shops, wine bars, cake shops and more. It was very busy in November when I was there. It was...

Solitary Bees By Ted Benton & Nick Owens review

Solitary Bees By Ted Benton & Nick Owens review This is my second review of a book by Ted Benton. I enjoyed the much smaller first book and when I asked him why he wrote the first Solitary Bee book, his comments were just as appropriate for this second book....

Wool carder bee, nesting and mating behaviour

Ladies first! Here I will explore the Wool carder (Anthidium manicatum) (Megachilidae: Anthidiin) females' behaviour, nesting etc. and then go on to the males. Unusually for solitary bees, female wool carder bees, are smaller than males and females generally emerge...

Dolphin watching at Lagos Portugal

Dolphin watching at Lagos Portugal Several businesses offer dolphin and whale watching tours sailing from Lagos in Portugal. We decided to go with Sealife because on every trip they have a qualified marine biologist accompanying you on their boats. Instead of hugging...

The Boardwalk from Lagos to Meia Praia

The wooden Boardwalk from Lagos to Meia Praia My wife and I watched spell bound as we were fortunate to watch the actual work undertaken during the construction of this beautiful wooden boardwalk. Although we have walked many miles on boardwalks in the area, we had...
Yellow face solitary bees resting and foraging video

Yellow face solitary bees resting and foraging video

Yellow Face bees (Hylaeus sp.) in my wildlife garden I must admit these bees are tiny and therefore very easily overlooked. When I got my 'eye-in', I had to use Steven Falk's excellent book and his website to try to find what they were, so I may be wrong! Reading this...

The frantic antics of a male Wool carder bee-video

The frantic antics of a male Wool carder bee-video

The victorious gladiator male Wool carder bee. Watch this magnificent male Wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) as it fights, hassles, grapples, hovers, pounces, mates, patrols and chases other bees. It attacks a wood chip on a string, a male bumblebee and a male...

Flowers that attract Wool carder bees video

Flowers that attract Wool carder bees video

Flowers that attract Wool carder bees  Wool carder bees, (Anthidium manicatum) are fascinating to watch. To encourage them into your wildlife garden plant these flowers, grab a brew and watch their fast and furious lives! This is a small selection of flowers that they...

Dave Goulson talks about helping our declining bees

Wild pollinators and what we can do to help their decline  Prof. Dave Goulson talks about his lifelong interest in bumblebees and other wild bees. He explains the factors that are driving bee declines (loss of habitat, pesticides, the spread of disease), and suggests...

The brave woodpigeon and the sparrowhawk video

The brave woodpigeon and the sparrowhawk video

This was one gutsy woodpigeon with attitude! I have seen adult Woodpigeons (Columba palumbus) show similar behaviour towards Collared Doves and even Magpies when driving them away from food. I have seen many sparrowhawks attack and kill smaller birds, such as...

How to make Garden Compost talk Risley Moss

How to make Garden Compost talk Risley Moss

George Pilkinton of Nurturing Nature; How to Make Garden Compost Sunday 24th September                                11:00pm to 12:30pm Making Garden Compost is like making a cake! You need the right ingredients, an 'oven', the right amounts, mix and away you go!...

Mint moths foraging and mating in my wildlife garden

Mint moths foraging and mating in my wildlife garden

Probably mint moths! This year I have more water mint growing as it has now become more established in my small wildlife pond. I was intrigued when I saw this little moth flying in the daytime, which is rather unusual for many moths. After reading about mint moths and...

Hedgehogs need Hedgehog Highways and Homes-PTFS survey

Hedgehogs need Hedgehog Highways and Homes-PTFS survey

Hedgehogs need Hedgehogs Highways and Homes. National Hedgehog Survey. This is the first ever national census of hedgehog houses, brought to you by Hedgehog Street: a national campaign from People's Trust for Endangered Species and the British Hedgehog Preservation...