Heathland and moorland
These wild, open landscapes stretch over large areas and are most often found in uplands. Although slow to awaken in spring, by late summer heathland can be an eye-catching purple haze of heather…
These wild, open landscapes stretch over large areas and are most often found in uplands. Although slow to awaken in spring, by late summer heathland can be an eye-catching purple haze of heather…
As stories break about the increasing challenges that the environment is facing, Harry Barton reflects on what the future of the environment might look like, its impact on us, and what needs to be…
The Heath bumblebee is not only found on heathland, but also in gardens and parks. It nests in small colonies of less than 100 workers in all kinds of spots, such as old birds' nests, mossy…
The small heath is the smallest of our brown butterflies and has a fluttering flight. It favours heathlands, as its name suggests, as well as other sunny habitats.
Cross-leaved heath is a type of heather that likes bogs, heathland and moorland. It has distinctive pink, bell-shaped flowers that attract all kinds of nectar-loving insects.
Heathlands form some of the wildest landscapes in the lowlands, where agriculture and development jostle for space, containing and limiting natural processes. Once considered as waste land of…
It’s always intrigued me that Kenneth Grahame chose Toad as his most impulsive, charismatic and rumbustious character. An adrenaline junky, desperate to be loved and the antithesis of Ratty’s…
It’s a crisp, early spring morning of watery sun and rippling bird song. The April greens are at their sharpest, the leaves of every plant impossibly lush. The flowers pushing themselves up among…
Ratty. Sensible, dependable, loyal, comfortable in his own skin, writes Harry Barton, Devon Wildlife Trust's CEO. He is the character who gives the river in Wind in the Willows its sense of…
Badger. Strong defiant, paternal, the only animal that the weasels and stoats won’t dare to cross. It is badger who the other animals turn to when things go wrong, the reluctant leader who steps…
The Wildlife Trusts and Dogs Trust launch advice to encourage owners to keep their pooches on leads during nesting season from February until August.