From courting and nesting to hatching and fledging, it’s peak wildlife webcam season, says The Wildlife Trusts, which currently shares more than 25 live video streams online as it monitors and protects sites.
The puffins of Skomer Island, off the Pembrokeshire coast — which recently hit a record-breaking population of 43,626 — are particularly popular, garnering 120,000 views (about 19,000 hours of watch time) last year, and tens of thousands enjoy tuning into the lives of barn owls Finn and Trude in Somerset’s Blackdown Hills; they recently welcomed four fluffy owlets to their nest box, as well as a confused pigeon, who swooped in to lay an egg beside them.
Once extinct ospreys can be seen in Rutland, Cumbria and Wales. Over in Herefordshire, Alban and Boudica, peregrines of St Albans Cathedral, have seen three eggs hatch and the fluffy pups at South Walney, Cumbria’s only grey seal population, are unbelievably cute. Even smaller are the pups of Essex Wildlife Trust’s soprano pipistrelle bat roost; adults are about the size of a human thumb so the young are truly tiny.
‘From barn owls and puffins to bats and seal pups, there’s nothing quite like a webcam to lift our spirits, giving an unrivalled window into the worlds of the wildlife we share a home with,’ says Dom Higgins of The Wildlife Trusts. ‘We know the thrills and spills captured by these webcams are enjoyed by many people from around the world.’
See more on the Wildlife Trusts website.
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The 'Rose Labyrinth' of Coughton Court, where 200 varieties come together in this world-renowned garden in WarwickshireVal Bourne finds the award winning-roses flourishing at Coughton Court in Warwickshire, where the historic garden is now in the hands of the latest in many generations of the same family. Photography by Clive Nichols.
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'Comfortable, cosseting and far from the madding crowd': The recently refurbished Cornish cottage that proves Victorian decor is making a comebackPlum Cottage in Padstow, Cornwall, has been brought to life by Jess Alken and her husband, Ash — and is the latest addition to their holiday cottages on the north Cornish coast.
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'Comfortable, cosseting and far from the madding crowd': The recently refurbished Cornish cottage that proves Victorian decor is making a comeback
Plum Cottage in Padstow, Cornwall, has been brought to life by Jess Alken and her husband, Ash — and is the latest addition to their holiday cottages on the north Cornish coast.
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Coco's crush: Chanel's century-long love affair with Britain and its menFor the past 100 years, Chanel — the person and the brand — has left an indelible mark on the UK and its cultural institutions. Amie Elizabeth White takes a look at how the relationship came to be.
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The golden eagle: One of the Great British public's favourite birds of prey — but devilishly tricky to identifyWe are often so keen to encounter this animal that ambition overrides the accuracy of our observations, writes Mark Cocker.
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From turtles to pink sea fans: Why Mediterranean marine life is drifting into British watersBoth leatherback sea turtles and the soft corrals’ presence near our shores coincides with our warming seas, Lotte Brundle writes.
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Critics be damned, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral gets Grade I status on advice from Historic EnglandLooking a bit like a large piece of moon-landing equipment on which you’d best not sit, with indoor lighting that wouldn’t look out of place in a nightclub, the building has ever divided opinions.
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Whatever floats your moat: Tower of London's former waterway receives help to adapt to the pressures of climate changeIt is one of five gardens across the globe that have been selected by the fund for aid in adapting to the growing pressures of climate change.
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It's a cruel summer to be a bee with up to 80% of swarms dying if they cannot find a safe place to settle — but here is how you can helpCurrently, swarms of bees are taking flight to search for new homes and up to 80% of these swarms will perish if they cannot find a safe place to settle, but we can all help, says the BBKA.
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From the Country Life archive: The questionable vacuum caps that promised a 'healthy, vigorous growth of hair'Every Monday, Melanie Bryan, delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.
