A proud wildlife watcher
Dara shares his different way of looking at the world and a different way of ‘being’.
Dara shares his different way of looking at the world and a different way of ‘being’.
Look for the deep magenta, star-shaped flowers of Marsh cinquefoil in marshes, bogs, fens and wetlands in the north, west and east of the UK.
As its name suggests, the Marsh violet likes damp spots, such as marshes, bogs and wet woods. It is a low-growing plant with kidney-shaped leaves and pale lilac flowers.
The Marsh helleborine is a beautiful orchid of fens, wet grassland and dune slacks. Growing in profusion in places, look for reddish stems and white-and-pink flowers.
The bright blue, trumpet-shaped flowers of the marsh gentian contrast deeply with the pinks and purples of the wet heaths it inhabits. The New Forest holds a large population of this late-…
Despite its name, the marsh tit actually lives in woodland and parks in England and Wales. It is very similar to the willow tit, but has a glossier black cap and a 'pitchoo' call that…
The courtship of the marsh harrier is certainly a sight to behold - wheeling and tumbling through the sky, male and female partners lock talons in mid-air. Look out for this rare bird over…
This is probably the most widespread and commonest of the marsh orchids.
The marsh hair moss is the largest moss in the UK. Look out for it in damp woodland and on boggy heathlands where it forms large, green and spikey 'cushions'.
This beautiful butterfly is one of our rarest, now mostly restricted to the western parts of the UK.
Europe's largest frog is not naturally found in the UK, but was introduced to Kent and has spread throughout the southeast.
The large, golden flowers of Marsh-marigold look like the cups of kings, hence its other name: 'Kingcup'. It favours damp spots, like ponds, meadows, marshes, ditches and wet woodlands…