Marbled white
The striking black-and-white checks of the marbled white are unmistakeable. Watch out for it alighting on purple flowers, such as field scabious, on chalk and limestone grasslands and along…
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Chwilio
Wild thyme
The delightful fragrance of wild thyme can punctuate a summer walk over a chalk grassland. It forms low-growing mats with dense clusters of purple-pink flowers.
My out of office
When Andrew gets away from his desk, he likes to escape to the Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve. From bramble bashing to bonfire building and clearing ponds, he’s always learning new ways to…
My neighbourhood
Sir David Attenborough has travelled the world in search of wildlife and wild spaces. But much closer to home, he can explore the hidden woodland at Crane Park Island, discover flying stag beetles…
My back-to-school
As a child growing up in Ghana, Patience never took an interest in what was going on in the garden. Now, she’s growing her own flowers and vegetables every week, both at the Centre for Wildlife…
Bell heather
Bell heather is our most familiar heather. In summer, it carpets our heaths, woods and coasts with purple-pink flowers that attract all kinds of nectar-loving insects.
Dwarf thistle
As its name suggests, the Dwarf thistle is a low-growing plant that is almost stemless - its purple, thistle-like flower heads growing out of a rosette of spiny leaves.
Pasqueflower
The pretty-in-purple Pasqueflower is now a rare plant in the UK, restricted to just a few chalk and limestone grasslands. Steeped in legend, it flowers at Easter, so is known as the 'anemone…
Rainbow trout
With a silvery body, and purple, pink and bluish streaks down its flanks, the rainbow trout lives up to its name. Popular with anglers, it is actually an introduced species in the UK.
My water filter
Duncan helps to manage the pockets of peatland at Bell Crag Flow, near Newcastle. The ancient landscapes that he works on are around 10,000 years old. These sites are great for wildlife but they…
My recovery
After undergoing brain surgery, Simone suffered from severe headaches and was worried that she would find volunteering with Durham Wildlife Trust too strenuous; in fact, she has found that the…
Gweundiroedd a gwaun
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…