UK Nature Blog

Autumnal scenes

A couple of pleasant and typically autumnal scenes for you, in case the darkening days are starting to get you down. Both of these are in UKNB's home town of St Albans, so if you're local you might recognise the first one at least.

Our Rivers survey

The Our Rivers campaign is running a national survey about local rivers. The survey is online and only takes a couple of minutes to complete (I just did so).

If you've not come across this organisation before, which I hadn't, they were apparently formed in 2009, led by WWF-UK, RSPB, the Angling Trust and the Salmon and Trout Association. They are on a mission to take up the slack left by the government in its ambitions for Britain's rivers.

Mother goose

A Greylag goose specifically, which I learn is the ancestor of most domestic geese, though the RSPB seems a bit sniffy about the majority of them that you find in the UK, apparently being "semi-tame and uninspiring". I suppose that's what made them good as domestic animals.

Damselflies everywhere

It's the time of year when damselflies are everywhere, even in my garden with no pond. The one above is a male Red-eyed damselfly that was just one amongst clouds of the things around a lake I recently visited in Norfolk. I had to study my picture closely to check that it wasn't a Small red-eyed damselfly, but I think that the shape and colour pattern of the tail is the giveaway, not to mention I don't remember it being tiny.

Freshwater mussel

I spotted this quite large freshwater mussel in the shallow waters at the edge of a lake in Norfolk. Beneath the gunk it looks like it's probably quite a rich mixture of yellow/green/brown and I suspect it's a member of the Unionidae family as they look very similar. I don't see them very often, though apparently they're very common, especially in canals, though I remember finding a very large shell (perhaps 15cm) at the edge of a lake as a boy.

Whirligig beetles

At my favourite watery wildlife spot I saw a new critter yesterday, though I knew what they were the minute I saw them: whirligig beetles. There are some great close-up photos and facts on that linked page - well worth a look. My photo above shows how metallic they appear on the surface - seedlike blobs of mercury almost.

I recognised them instantly because they were clearly beetles, and were whizzing around in circles and figures on eight on the surface in a fairly hectic manner. Particularly notable is that they have eyes split into two, for seeing above and below the water (the link above has a particularly good picture of this).

Surveying Norfolk (and other) wildlife

Norfolk Wildlife Trust have a great website with resources to help in surveying many different kinds of wildlife, from ponds to fungi. The forms are designed to be sent back to report on wildlife in Norfolk, but there's so much great information and guidance that they should be of interest to anybody.

Northumbrian Autumn colours from Cragside

More from UKNB's 2010 tour of Northumberland. Today a small collection of photos demonstrating the wonderful autumnal colours that have been on display. It seems to have been a good year for it, and a few days with wonderful warm but weak sunshine have lit the trees up just so.

These are all from the Cragside Estate, which is a wonderful place to walk around at any time of year.

Wibbly Swan

Another interesting bird photo from Clumber Park. It might not be immediately be obvious, but this Mute swan is having a shake down to throw water from its feathers. You can just see drops of water being flung out if you look very closely. A video might have done it more justice, but that long neck shimmied in a rapidly undulating S shape that was quite a sight.

Arty photo: Swan neck