🦔 Hedgehogs are, hands down, one of our favourite mammals – it’s always a joy to see one! Which makes their sudden decline all the more distressing. That’s the bad news. The good news is we can do something about it. Ben's here to show you how 👇 buff.ly/Kjrh1Id #NationalMammalWeek

🐟️ A fierce predator of small fish and flying insects, the brown trout is widespread in our freshwater rivers. It has a golden body, flanked with pale-ringed dark spots. Mating season for these fish is usually January to March, with eggs laid in riverbed gravel. 📸 Linda Pitkin

🦇 There’s nothing quite as entertaining as settling down in a comfy garden chair to watch the bats come out to swish and swoop on their hunt for food. They’re fascinating creatures, but they need our help. Here’s how you can do your bit 👇

🦇 On the warmer spring evenings bats will be out flying around over gardens and parks looking for insects to eat. One of the most common bats you'll see is the common pipistrelle. Even though these are tiny they can eat around 3,000 insects every night! 👉 Discover more wildlife: buff.ly/WpZIXR5

Four wheatears recently called in on migration to enjoy the chalk scrapes at the Dancersend Extension, just below the highest point in the Chilterns. It was great to see them perched on information boards (which tell visitors to look out for migrants!) and fences nearby. 📸 @mickdjones.bsky.social

It's a good year for Oxfordshire's county flower! Our fantastic team of ten volunteers joined Senior Ecologist Colin Williams to count 41,748 snake's-head fritillaries at Iffley Meadows this week - give or take a few!

We're sorry to report that due to recent vandalism at Foxcote Reservoir, we have temporarily closed the reserve to the public. A fire which was lit underneath the boardwalk leading up to the hide has caused structural damage, requiring a section to be removed by the fire services.

🪺 Coots are a familiar sight on our park lakes, ponds and rivers, and at this time of year can be spotted in their large and untidy-looking nests on the water.

@bbowt.bsky.social Dancersend is looking superb and will be even better for my first guided walk of the season on Sunday 26 April. For details/booking go to www.bbowt.org.uk/events. More on 'Wildlife specialities & secrets' on 24 May and 'Creating space for rare chalk species' on 28 June. Join me!!

30 Days Wild sign ups are open! 💚 This June is all about getting wild. It could be listening to birds, spotting bugs, or just taking a moment outside. What is your favourite way to connect with nature? Join the adventure and get your free resources 👉 www.wildlifetrusts.org/30dayswild

📣 We are looking trustees to join our Board! 👉 Find out more about the role and apply here: buff.ly/GscSGbf

Look out for swallows returning to the UK from their winters in Africa this month! They feed on small, flying insects, and are often found near farmland or grassland, particularly if there’s water nearby. 📸 Chris Gomersall/2020VISION

👽️ Alien life discovered on our reserve? Phil Townsend spotted two false puffballs (Reticularia lycoperdon) growing on a hazel trunk at Rushbeds Wood. Despite the similar names, they are not a type of fungi - but rather a slime mold.

A few Green-winged Orchid (Anacamptis morio) and Cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) slowly emerging at @bbowt.bsky.social's Bernwood Meadows, though so far most are only a couple of centimetres high. Hopefully there'll be many more in a week or so! #WildflowerHour

The common eyelash fungus is easily overlooked - it measures up to 1cm across and grows in damp places on rotting wood. Its scarlet-red, shallow cups have a distinctive fringe of black hairs that look just like eyelashes! 📸 Assistant Ecologist Lou Reeve at Rushbeds Wood

🐂 Named for its three bull-like horns, the minotaur beetle is a large dung beetle found on grassland and heathland. They nest in tunnels that can be up to 1.5 metres deep, where they lay their eggs and provide dung for the larvae to feed on. 📸 Assistant Ecologist Lou Reeve at Wildmoor Heath

Great display of Snake's-head Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) at Iffley Meadows in Oxford at the moment. Listed as Vulnerable on the Vascular Plant Red Data List for GB, this is one of only around 30 sites in the UK where they grow wild. #WildflowerHour @bbowt.bsky.social #nature #photography

New bird feeding guidance 🐦🚨 Changes in how and when we feed garden birds can have a big impact on their health. Following the latest advice from @rspb.bsky.social helps keep birds safe from disease while still enjoying nature on your doorstep.

Wildlife spring arrived early at @bbowt.bsky.social Dancersend and now it's racing ahead out of control! The first Bluebells were in flower on 9 March, over 2 weeks earlier than 2024 and now it is a blue haze. These Beech trees were in leaf very early in first week of April. Please slow down a bit!

For centuries it was believed that peatlands were of no value unless drained or extracted from. Today, this is known to be false. For peat-free April, Ben shows us just how easy it is to go peat-free in the garden 👇 buff.ly/4aRaD4g

Out on a lunchbreak walk today at BBOWT's Bowdown Woods, nr Newbury – the Bluebells, Wood Anemones and Lesser Celandines were looking gorgeous in the sunshine @bbowt.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @tverc1.bsky.social @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

🐞 Ladybirds are among the handful of British insects that hibernate - often huddling together in their thousands. In April they emerge in their millions to go hunting. Did you know that ladybirds are mostly carnivorous?

🐦️ Gallows Bridge Farm near Bicester is the perfect place to spend an hour (or three!) enjoying birds galore, with viewing screens and hides just a short stroll from the car park. Thank you to the super skilled Judith Hadgkiss for sending us these fantastic photos of her recent sightings!

🐦️ Our Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre recently hosted a nature-inspired glass fusion workshop, run by Sue from The Floral Fuse. One participant fed back that it inspired them to spend more time in nature!

Lesser Scaup - College Lake (Buckinghamshire) 5/4/26 #bucksbirds #ukbirds #ukbirding #birds @bbowt.bsky.social @btoengland.bsky.social @britishbirds.bsky.social

Enjoying my new (temporary) pet ambling around a petri dish on my desk - a Velvet Mite found in a chalk scrape at @bbowt.bsky.social Dancersend. A large mite, probably Trombidium holosericeum, but still only 4mm. Just gave it fresh soil from the garden and it seems happy. The joy of small things!

🐝 Dandelions are an important early source of food for pollinators - so let them grow! #InternationlDayoftheDandelion 📸 Jon Hawkins - Surrey Hills Photography

🦔 As the weather warms, hedgehogs will be waking from their winter hibernation and looking for food to eat in gardens. They love long grass full of insects to feast on once the sun has set.

The male Silver Colonel is a stunning soldierfly of fens & marshes, this one seen at Rack Marsh nr Newbury, but you need to get the angle just right to capture its silvery abdomen. Look for it April-June #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @bbowt.bsky.social @tverc1.bsky.social

✅ Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is arguably the most successful way to restore nature at scale in England to date. It enables developers to not only avoid and mitigate their harmful impacts on wildlife, but to achieve positive, long-term solutions for nature.

🐥 Gosling rescue mission success! A pair of Egyptian geese at The Nature Discovery Centre had laid eggs on the tern raft (which has high sides to deter them, clearly they didn't get the message!) trapping their newly-hatched goslings.

🐦️ Yesterday's mystery bird was... the chiffchaff, named after its song! This iconic birdsong can be heard from early spring, as chiffchaffs migrate here from Africa. However, increasing numbers remain in the UK year-round. Have you heard this migrating marvel singing its heart out this year?

🌿 Noticing Nature events are back for year two! 🌿 Our free, relaxed events help you slow down, spot wildlife, and build confidence recording what you see. Starting in Oxford for #CityNatureChallenge and running across Oxon, we hope you can join us! tverc.org/tverc-news/2...

Can you guess which bird is singing? Let us know in the comments 👇 The answer will be revealed tomorrow 👀

🪶 We're bringing swifts back to our streets! The new prototype swift box made by the Crowthorne Men’s Shed is ready and was presented to the Parish Council and the community at the annual Parish meeting. 📸 Barbara Polonara

Go paperless and send seasonal greetings to family and friends with our e-cards 🐰 Celebrate the season with a wildlife-themed e-card, with all donations supporting our work to protect and restore nature across our three counties. www.dontsendmeacard.com/ecards/chari...

With their bright amber and azure plumage, kingfishers are one of the most colourful and attractive UK birds - but did you know they lay their eggs underground? Each spring they burrow into sandy riverbanks and defend their territory by performing elaborate mid-air motions to scare rivals away.

"The hedge layers step away from their spiky opponent to admire their work. This length of hedgerow now lies low and lush. Light reaches the drovers’ track once again, and dormant seeds in the soil will flourish. Soon, the blackthorn will flower."

Is it a bird? Is it a mouse? Logan Walker describes his surprise encounter with a pair of nesting treecreepers! 🪺 Read all about it 👉 buff.ly/OzGI5wm

Have you been on the edge of your seat since last year, waiting to see what our scrapes at Cholsey Marsh would look like? Good news! Phil Bruss, #MendtheGap Project Officer, is here to update us 👇 youtube.com/shorts/0uA7H... @chilternsnl.bsky.social

🐝 An imposter? Bee-flies are a group of true flies (like bluebottles and house flies) that have evolved yellow and orange fur which mimics bumblebees. In March they are among the first flying insects to appear on sunny days, hovering in front of primroses and drinking nectar like tiny hummingbirds.

Andrena praecox (Small Sallow Mining Bee), female. Seen on 20 March at @bbowt.bsky.social College Lake Reserve. Nesting aggregation just outside the visitor centre.

🌱 Nature Buddies are specially trained volunteers. They're neighbours, friends and community members who receive training so they can support others to spend more time outdoors. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ7Z...

Nature always has a surprise in store 👀 Our Senior Ecologist, Colin Williams, was surveying at Iffley Meadows Nature Reserve when he heard a strange noise coming from the other side of a large tree. He approached with caution, not knowing what he was going to encounter...

From gazing across carpets of bluebells to being serenaded by choirs of birdsong, a spring woodland is a magical place to be. For the International Day of Forests, find a woodland near you to experience these wild wonders 👇 bbowt.org.uk/nature-reserves/seasons 📸 Sydlings Copse by Martyn Lane

🐸 Welcome to spring! 🌼 Today marks the equinox, where the sun is directly above the Equator and the daytime is the same length as the night. This means that each day from now will contain more sunlight than darkness - a very good reason to celebrate! 😎 📸 Phil Bruss

Still finding fallen trees at @bbowt.bsky.social Dancersend after recent high. This large multi-trunked Goat Willow is a great loss as it hosted a large colony of the tiny pin lichen Chaenotheca brachypoda and was also popular with Purple Emperors. Thankfully my other favourite willow was unharmed.

At last spring is really here - saw my first Slow Worm of the year yesterday basking in the sunshine at BBOWT's Decoy Heath, nr Aldermaston @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social @bbowt.bsky.social @tverc1.bsky.social @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social

This beauty was spotted at BBOWT's Decoy Heath – a Green Parasite Fly Gymnocheta viridis. Males often bask on tree trunks @bbowt.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @stevenfalk.bsky.social See our #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z

🥊 One of the most famous signs of spring in the British Isles is 'boxing' hares. Contrary to popular belief, 'mad March hares' is not about male posturing or machismo, but is usually a female or 'jill' fending off the attentions of a jack... (1/2) 📸 Russell Savory