Thousands of caterpillars released into Lake District valley

insectMarsh Fritillary by Jim S Thousands of caterpillars released into Lake District valleyThousands of caterpillars have been released in a Lake District valley as part of ongoing attempts to re-establish colonies of one of Europe’s most endangered butterflies.

Almost 4,000 Marsh Fritillary caterpillars were distributed on suitable habitat by Wild Ennerdale Volunteers, Forestry Commission staff and Butterfly Conservation under a

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Rare seal’s visit delights Northumberland Wildlife Trust

beardy S Rare seal’s visit delights Northumberland Wildlife TrustNorthumberland Wildlife Trust is delighted that a rare bearded seal visited Beadnell Beach at the weekend – May 29.

This visit is the first ever record of a bearded seal to Northumberland since records began.

The young seal was spotted quite happily lying on the beach and appeared quite fit, fat and

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Grizedale Forest’s red kite chicks survive their first winter

1250540066 Vyk4m S Grizedale Forest’s red kite chicks survive their first winterMost of the red kite chicks released by the Forestry Commission in the Lake District’s Grizedale Forest last summer have survived the harsh winter.

Wildlife rangers believe that around 20 of the 30 birds that were released in the first year of a three-year reintroduction programme made it

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Rangers’ high rise match making

1239360682 P5ksq S Rangers’ high rise match makingWildlife rangers went up in the world to help a frisky osprey bachelor entice a mate. The first of three new artificial osprey platforms was erected by the Forestry Commission in Kielder Water & Forest Park, Northumberland.

Wildlife rangers donned their harnesses and scaled a 20 metre spruce to lop the top of the tree with

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Environmental project boosts rare butterfly numbers

1044552744 iXHvy S Environmental project boosts rare butterfly numbersAn environmental project led by the Forestry Commission and Butterfly Conservation in the Wyre Forest has been hugely successful in boosting the numbers of rare butterflies living in the West Midlands.

Back to Orange, a three-year project, largely funded by SITA Trust, which aimed to conserve the fritillary butterflies of the Wyre Forest, has

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Take off for Northumberland’s rare ospreys

955542939 XZu6U S Take off for Northumberlands rare ospreysNorthumberland’s  three  osprey  chicks  have taken to the air for the very first time.

The young birds, named Aqua, Splash and Spray, and only the second osprey family raised in North East England since records began 200 years ago, have all successfully flown in Kielder Water and the forest park.

Over the past week

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New era for restoring natural environment

951614161 bd4jt S New era for restoring natural environmentThe Coalition Government’s White Paper on the Natural Environment provides a real opportunity to lay the foundations of nature conservation for the 21st century, according to The Wildlife Trusts.

The conservation organisation’s comments come ahead of a public consultation and set out its recovery plans for the UK’s wildlife and fragmented habitats on land

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Listen up! Children to tune in to the sounds of nature

826347888 PgBcE S Listen up! Children to tune in to the sounds of natureMost of us can picture a hedgehog, blue tit or grasshopper, but what does one sound like?

Members of the Wildlife Watch, the Wildlife Trusts’ network of groups for children, are now able to find out thanks to some new state of the art

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Film released of history making ospreys

Stunning new footage of Northumberland’s record breaking ospreys has been released by the Kielder Partnership. The adult osprey’s have been re-united in 155,000 acre Kielder Water & Forest Park after making their separate ways back from sub-Saharan Africa.

Last year the couple entered the record books by raising the first osprey chicks born in the North East of England for at least 200 years.

Now one of the two cameras trained on the nest –

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Vole numbers help Kielder's owl population to soar

854036017 ikbFT S Vole numbers help Kielders owl population to soarTawny owl numbers in Kielder Forest are soaring as the UK’s longest running research project on the bird enters its 30th year. Despite the harsh winter tawnies are benefiting from a remarkable recovery in the vole population locally.

The diminutive mammals are a favourite food for birds of prey, but

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