Week 65: Black-headed Gull ('Chroicocephalus ridibundus')

The Black-headed Gull was @SpeciesofUK from 16^th to 22^nd June.

Black-headed gulls are a common species of UK gull, found just as often inland as they are on the coast.[1] They are noisy and quarrelsome birds.

Black-headed Gull
[Wikimedia Commons © Arild Vågen]

Week 63: Roe Deer ('Capreolus capreolus')

The Roe Deer was @SpeciesofUK from 2^nd to 8^th June, 2014.

The roe deer is a native UK deer species that nearly become extinct here in the eighteenth century.[1] They are known for their distinctive three-tined antlers.

Roe Deer
[Flickr Creative Commons © Don Sutherland]

Week 62: Common Blue Damselfly ('Enallagma cyathigerum')

The Common Blue Damselfly was @SpeciesofUK from 27^th May to 1^st June, 2014.

The common blue is a small and brightly coloured damselfly that is common throughout Europe and the British Isles.[1]

Common Blue Damselfly
[Flickr Creative Commons © Rushen]

Week 60: Treecreeper ('Certhia familiaris')

The Treecreeper was @SpeciesofUK from 12^th to 18^th May, 2014.

The treecreeper is a wonderful, active little bird that, as its name suggests, lives in trees. It's notable for its foraging habits and slender curved bill.

Treecreeper
[Flickr Creative Commons © gynti_46]

Week 59: Pipistrelle bats ('Pipistrellus')

Pipistrelle Bats were @SpeciesofUK from 21^st to 27^th April, 2014.

The pipistrelles are the UK’s most widespread and abundant, and also our smallest, bats.[1]

Common Pipistrelle
[Flickr Creative Commons © Gilles San Martin]

Week 57: Small White Butterfly (‘Pieris rapae’)

The Small White Butterfly was @SpeciesofUK from 7^th to 13^th April, 2014.

The small white is one of the butterflies (alongside the large white) that we sometimes call a 'cabbage white.'[1] It is one of the most widespread butterflies in the UK.[2]

Small White Butterfly
[Wikimedia Commons © James Lindsey]

Week 56: Willow Warbler ('Phylloscopus trochilus')

The Willow Warbler was @SpeciesofUK from 31^st March to 6^th April, 2014.

Willow Warblers are slim, delicate birds of woodland, scrub, parks and gardens.[1]

Willow Warbler
[Flickr Creative Commons © Muchaxo]

They migrate to the UK for the summer from southern Africa.[2] 

Week 54: Miner Bees (‘Andrena’)

Miner Bees were @SpeciesofUK from 17^th to 23^rd March, 2014.

‘Miner bees’ or ‘sand bees’ make up the genus Andrena. There are over 1,300 species worldwide of which around sixty live in the UK, making it one of the largest bee genera.[1]

Miner Bee
[Wikimedia Commons © Jeffdelonge]

Miner bees get their name from their habit of digging nest burrows in sandy soil, in which their prepupae spend the winter.[2] 

Week 53: Sparrowhawk ('Accipiter nisus')

The Sparrowhawk was @SpeciesofUK from 10^th to 16^th March, 2014.

The UK's sparrowhawk is also known the 'northern sparrowhawk' or 'Eurasian sparrowhawk' to distinguish it from other sparrowhawks.[1]

Sparrowhawk
[Flickr Creative Commons © Philippe Garcelon]

It is a small raptor with short rounded wings and long legs.

Week 50: European Conger Eel (‘Conger conger’)

The European Conger was @SpeciesofUK from 10^th to 16^th February, 2014.

The European conger is a large species of eel that is common and widespread round the UK and Irish coasts.[1]

European Conger
[Flickr Creative Commons © Frank Gloystein]

Congers are long, powerful and renowned as being fearsome predators.

Week 48: Barnacle Goose ('Branta leucopsis')

The Barnacle Goose was @SpeciesofUK from 27^th January to 2^nd February, 2014.

Barnacle geese are medium-sized geese with a distinctive white face and belly, and black head, neck and breast.[1]

Barnacle Goose
[Wikimedia Commons © Ludovic Péron]

They are Arctic geese that come to the UK for winter and congregate in spectacular fashion. 

Week 47: Sea Slugs ('Nudibranch')

Sea Slugs were @SpeciesofUK from 20^th to 26^th January, 2014.

   

Sea slug is a common name given to thousands of marine gastropod molluscs that lack external shells.[1] They are related to our familiar land-dwelling slugs and snails.

Polycera quadrilineata
[Flickr Creative Commons © Frank Gloystein]

The main grouping of sea slugs is the so-called ‘nudibranchs’.[2] It is these that form the subject of this post. 

Week 45: Common Frog (‘Rana temporaria’)

The Common Frog was @SpeciesofUK from 6^th to 12^th January, 2013.

The common frog is one of the UK’s native amphibians and is very widespread.

Common Frog
[Flickr Creative Commons ©  Isfugl]

Week 44: Snow Bunting ('Plectrophenax nivalis')

The Snow Bunting was @SpeciesofUK from 23^rd December 2013 to 5^th January 2014.

Snow buntings are small birds that breed mainly in the Arctic and migrate south in the winter.[1]

Snow Bunting
[Flickr Creative Commons © foxypar4]

In the UK, we have a large wintering population of snow buntings and we are also lucky enough to have a small summer breeding population, in the Cairngorms of Scotland.[2] Snow buntings have been described as “possibly the most romantic and elusive bird in the British Isles.”[3]

Week 42: December Moth ('Poecilocampa populi')

The December Moth was @SpeciesofUK from 18^th November to 8^th December, 2013.

The December moth is a fairly common species of moth found across the UK.[1]

December Moth
[Wikimedia Commons © Walter Schön]

The flight time of the December moth, as its name suggests, is late in the year. It can be found from late October to December.[2]

Week 41: Chub (‘Squalius cephalus’)

The Chub was @SpeciesofUK from 4^th to 17^th November, 2013.

Squalius cephalus, the European Chub, or ‘chub’ for short, is a freshwater fish from the carp family.[1]

Chub
[Wikimedia Commons © Karelj]

Chub are popular with UK anglers who consider them to be one of the wiliest of our fish.[2]

Week 39: Wood Mouse (‘Apodemus sylvaticus’)

The Wood Mouse was @SpeciesofUK from 21^st to 27^th October, 2013.

The wood mouse is a rodent from the Muridae family (mice, rats and gerbils). Muridae is the largest mammal family in the world, containing over 700 species.[1]

Wood Mouse
[Flickr Creative Commons © Isfugl]

The wood mouse can be found across Europe from Iceland to Ukraine. It's also native to the northern coast of Africa in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.[2] 

Week 38: Dunlin (‘Calidris alpina’)

The Dunlin was @SpeciesofUK from 14^th to 20^th October, 2013.

Dunlins are waders that form massive winter flocks in the UK. They are known for the black bellies they develop in their distinctive breeding plumage.

Dunlin
[Source: Flickr Creative Commons © talis qualis]

Week 36: Ragworms (‘Nereididae’)

Ragworms were @SpeciesofUK from 23^rd to 29^th September, 2013.

'Ragworms' are a group of about five hundred species worldwide that make up the Nereididae family, split into forty-two genera. They are mostly found in marine environments.[1]

A King Ragworm
[Source: Flickr Creative Commons © bathyporeia]

Ragworms are found in abundance in UK estuaries and along sandy or muddy shorelines, where they live in U- or J-shaped burrows up to 20cm deep.[2]

Week 35: Great Tit (‘Parus major’)

The Great Tit was @SpeciesofUK from 16^th to 22^nd September, 2013.

The great tit is a member of the tit family Paridae, which are known in North America as the ‘titmice’ and ‘chickadees.’[1]

Great Tit
[Source: Flickr Creative Commons © Paul Gulliver]

Tits can be found right across the northern hemisphere and Africa.[2] The great tit has one of the widest ranges of all tits. It’s found as far east as China and as far west as Ireland and Morocco.[3]