HOUSE MARTIN: perilous journey to make a home
LIKE the swallow, the house martin has become a sleek symbol of British summertime although it spends its winter in eastern or southern...
CORMORANT: skilled fish hunter at odds with anglers
QUICK and agile underwater, the cormorant is a voracious hunter of fish - which is why so many anglers have come to detest it. Mainly a...
HERON: an aristocrat makes a meal of some tiddlers
WITH his deadly sword-like beak, tall figure and imperious stalking manner, the heron has always seemed like an aristocrat among birds to...
HARVEST MOUSE: the biggest challenge for a tiny mammal
TINY, shy, and weighing less than a 2p coin, the harvest mouse is facing up to the biggest challenge of its life - warding off...
RED SQUIRREL: driven out by the march of the greys
SMALLER and prettier than its immigrant grey rival, our native red squirrel has had a tough time in recent decades. Driven out of the...
WOODPECKER: taking the knocks - and giving a few back
THE drum of beak on wood often announces the presence of a woodpecker long before its distinctive shape is spotted flitting from tree to...
SPIDERS: lords of their mini-manors
THE discovery of a large colony of unfamiliar red spiders beneath the late Queen Mother's weekend home caused huge excitement at the...
