🐑 Our sheep are doing a great job grazing the chalk grassland we have restored on the 32 acres of ex-arable land at the Dancersend Extension fields. (They'd never tell you that themselves, they're very baa-shful!) 📸 Mick Jones

🦅 The sparrowhawk may be one of our smaller birds of prey, but it has a big appetite! They can be found in all kinds of habitats and often visit gardens looking for their prey - Rachel Powell witnessed this female sparrowhawk tucking into it a woodpigeon for lunch 🍽️

🐾 Leave lasting footprints in our landscape. Find out about gifts in wills: bbowt.org.uk/gifts-in-wills 📸 David Tipling/2020VISION

Our Upper Ray volunteers have been hard at work coppicing the hedgerows at Meadow Farm! Coppicing is a traditional management technique whereby vegetation is cut to ground level to encourage thick regeneration. 📸 Chloe Bradford

🙌 We had a great day at the Young Changemakers event organised by @seeducating.bsky.social, @bracknellforest.bsky.social, and Bracknell and Wokingham College.

🍂 Don't you hate it when you're peacefully sleeping among the leaves and a mushroom grows up underneath you? Phil Townsend recently spotted this opportunistic slug sitting patiently on top of an emerging magpie inkcap!

This last spring, Gallows Bridge Farm saw three pairs of nesting redshank, as well as an increase in breeding lapwing, and a close breeding attempt by a pair of curlew - next year could be the year we see curlew chicks fledge 🤞 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki-M...

📢 Cafe Manager Opportunity We are seeking an experienced manager to guide our café and catering services, ensuring smooth operations, strong financial performance, and a great customer experience. Apply today: www.bbowt.org.uk/jobs/cafe-ma...

🍄 Wonderful waxcaps! Often thought of as orchids of the fungi kingdom, waxcaps come in a variety of colours and are in indicator of healthy, unimproved grassland. Warden Phil Townsend spotted this selection at Aston Clinton Ragpits near Aylesbury!

We’re hiring for a Head of Fundraising! Are you a passionate fundraising leader? In this role, you’ll shape and deliver our voluntary fundraising strategy across different teams and play a key role in driving our mission forward. 🌿 👉 Apply here: buff.ly/TR55CNM

🐀 The chestnut-brown bank vole is our smallest vole and can be found in hedgerows, woodlands, parks and gardens. This sweet little mammal was spotted at Warburg Nature Reserve near Henley.

🎉 Scrape works have been completed at Gallows Bridge Farm! 🪱 Scrapes are shallow features which hold rain or flood water seasonally and remain damp for much of the year. They support insect populations, and provide invaluable food and refuges for a wide range of wetland wildlife, including waders.

❌ Yesterday the Government rejected both Amendment 130 (renumbered to 40) and the chalk stream protection amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

We’re hiring: Reserves Officer (North Bucks) Join our North Bucks team & help nature recover! You’ll manage beautiful woodlands & meadows, support volunteers, and protect rare species like Bechstein’s bats & Hairstreak butterflies. Apply now 👉 www.bbowt.org.uk/jobs/reserve...

We will remember them.

We’re hiring! Reserves Officer (Snelsmore) 🌿 Help nature recover by managing Snelsmore Common on the edge of Newbury. You’ll lead practical heathland management, support volunteers, and oversee ground-nesting bird protection. Apply now: www.bbowt.org.uk/jobs/reserve...

📣 The BBOWT 2026 Calendar is available now! Packed with stunning images of local wildlife, taken by the winners of the BBOWT Photography Competition. 👉 Limited stock available, order yours today at bbowt.org.uk/shop Also available at College Lake Nature Reserve and the Nature Discovery Centre.

We’re hiring 📣 Reserves Officer (Oxon) Help nature recover by delivering practical work to optimise habitats across Oxfordshire’s reserves. Join a skilled, supportive team where your work makes a real difference. Apply now: www.bbowt.org.uk/jobs/reserve...

❌ Wildlife protections are under attack. The Government wants to change the law to make it easier to brush aside nature in the pursuit of growth at all costs 🏗️ 👉 Take our simple e-action to make your voice heard: bit.ly/4qrc0ei

❌ Wildlife protections are under attack. The Government wants to change the law to make it easier to brush aside nature in the pursuit of growth at all costs 🏗️ 👉 Take our simple e-action to make your voice heard: bit.ly/4qrc0ei

✒️ Calling all creatives - let nature be your muse at our Nature Poetry Workshop. Discover the joy of creative expression in our workshop on Sat 15 Nov at the Nature Discovery Centre Unwind and get inspired by nature 🌸 Book your place here 👇

🏆 Thank you to everyone who sent in your stunning wildlife snaps over the summer. Our expert panel have selected the winning shots! We've also tallied the votes after nearly 2,000 of you selected your favourite photo for our People's Choice Award. Find out the winning pictures 👇

Reserves Officer (Snelsmore) required with @bbowt.bsky.social 35 hours per week, permanent post based at Estovers, Greenham Common, Newbury, with some hybrid working possible. c-js.uk/492hVQP

Reserves Officer (North Bucks) with @bbowt.bsky.social 35 hours per week, permanent post based at Meadow Farm, Blackthorn, Bicester, OX25 1TW.

Join our welcoming café team! As a Café Assistant, you’ll make visitors feel welcome & support our mission to help nature recover. Apply now: buff.ly/esIep0B

🌳 Thanks to the careful management of its current owners, Hamgreen Wood is a haven for wildlife, and has the potential for an even greater diversity of habitats. 👉 Please support our appeal by visiting bbowt.org.uk/hamgreen

🍂 Do you love local wildlife? Would you be happy talking to people about nature and how they can help it? We're looking for enthusiastic and outgoing nature-lovers to tell people about what we do and how they can be a part of it - and earn up to £45 per hour. Find out more 👉 buff.ly/hjxd8WC

Join our team as a Café Assistant! Support wildlife & deliver great customer service in our lively visitor centre café. Apply today: buff.ly/wxePgJ9

If you don't like spiders, keep scrolling! 👀 🕷️ But if you'd like to find out more about the amazing variety of spiders you can find in the UK, watch on 👇

🎉✅ Lords have voted FOR an amendment that will reduce the risks of the #CashToTrash system in Part 3 of the Planning & Infrastructure Bill. But we need YOUR help to make sure it goes through 👉 buff.ly/0ColQrh

🦔 Keep our prickly friends safe this autumn and make sure you check bonfires before lighting them. Here are some top tips to avoid harming hedgehogs 👇 buff.ly/wPaYO9B 📷 Tom Marshall

Join our Finance team! We’re looking for an Assistant Management Accountant to help nature recover by keeping our records accurate & our future secure. Apply now: www.bbowt.org.uk/jobs/assista...

A lovely flock of shimmering lapwing was seen over Gallows Bridge Farm. The waders will overwinter on the reserve, making use of all the water - once we see some more rain! 🌧️ 📸 Chloe Bradford

🍊 Can anyone guess how the orange peel fungus (Aleuria aurantia) earned its common name? Keep your eyes peeled and you may spot some along the paths at Warburg Nature Reserve!

🎉 A WIN FOR CHALK STREAMS! The House of Lords voted in favour of the chalk stream protections amendment to be included in the Planning & Infrastructure Bill!

🥳 We’ve now passed £200,000 in our Hamgreen Wood appeal! This milestone is thanks to the incredible generosity of our members and supporters 🙌 Will you help us to raise the remaining £100,000 to protect this special site for generations to come? 👉 Please support our appeal: bbowt.org.uk/hamgreen

Fabulous crop of large Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) at the @bbowt.bsky.social managed Snelsmore Common in Berkshire this Autumn. #WildFungiHour #FungiFriends 🍄

🐝 Ivy bees feed mainly on ivy, so they time their emergence to fit in with its flowering period: late September to November. They nest in loose, light or sandy soil on southern-facing banks and cliffs. This one was spotted burrowing around Aston Clinton Ragpits! 📸 Phil Townsend

Thank you @bbowt.bsky.social for a great introduction to #biodiversitynetgain talk this week. Will be interested to see how it evolves e.g. leading to investment in nature local to the site of developments, or not. Lessons learnts from carbon trading schemes, or not www.bbowt.org.uk/what-we-do/f...

👑 Weighing in at less than 6 grams, the goldcrest is Europe's smallest bird. Despite its size, its beautiful golden crown might well have earned it the title of 'king of the birds' in European folklore. Have you spotted a flash of gold on a woodland walk?

Join us this Sunday in Grendon Underwood for a free interactive nature workshop hosted by our Reconnecting Bernwood, Otmoor and the Ray (RBOR) team! Learn how to make log piles, bug hotels and bucket ponds, and make your outside space more wildlife friendly. 👉 buff.ly/p6S0APW

📉 Last week Gov confirmed it won't publish the long-awaited Chalk Stream Recovery Pack. Today 83% of England’s chalk streams don't achieve good ecological status finds CaBA report. The main take away of the report is a LOT more needs to be done and soon to #SaveOurChalkStreams

⚠️ As the House of Lords debates the Government’s damaging Planning and Infrastructure Bill, we are highlighting some of the amendments needed to mitigate the worst impacts of the bill. (1/5)

🌳 Ancient woodland is a rare and irreplaceable habitat. Once a dominant habitat, it now covers less than 2.5% of the UK. Hamgreen Wood contains one of the largest remaining examples of ancient woodland in the area. 👉 Please support our appeal: bbowt.org.uk/hamgreen

We’re hiring! 📣 Join our friendly team as a Café Assistant and help nature thrive while serving smiles at our busy College Lake Visitor Centre café. Apply online (buff.ly/t7hTCFf) or pop in for an application form! 🌿☕

✨This year, send beautiful Diwali e-cards that will brighten someone’s day and help local wildlife! ✨ All donations support our work to protect and restore nature across our three counties. Let’s make this Diwali brighter for humans and animals alike! Choose your e-card here 👇 buff.ly/lo4954A

🍄 Our recent Rangers session coincided with the Bucks Fungi Group running their national fungi day event at College Lake! We had a great time learning from the experts before going out on the reserve to put our ID skills into practice, creating artwork from what we discovered.

Let's put it to a vote... an extra hour in bed, or stunning scenes like this? ✋ One advantage of shortening daylight hours is that you don't have to get up so early to enjoy a sunrise! ☀️ 📸 Greenham Common by Julian Cooper

🌳 The current owners of Hamgreen Wood have carefully managed the woodland rides over the past thirty years. When the time came for them to sell, they knew BBOWT had the expertise to care for their precious land. 👉 Please support our appeal: bbowt.org.uk/hamgreen

We can certainly think of worse views! 💚 If you find yourself at a loose end this weekend, why not spend a bit of time in our hide at Gallows Bridge Farm? You never know what might turn up... 📸 Chloe Bradford