Naturalists say it has been an “outstanding” summer for butterflies and other flying insects after last summer’s dramatic decline. Here are some of your sightings so far this year

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s Wilding Chesterfield project has received £245,000 in support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to aid nature’s recovery in the town’s urban spaces and make it a priority for the people who live there. 

The latest State of Nature Report, released by the Trust in June, lays bare the reality that many of Derbyshire’s landscapes are fragmented, degraded, and struggling to support wildlife.

With urban wildlife under increasing pressure, the Wilding Chesterfield pilot project aims to turn the town’s streets into homes for the species that were once thriving there, such as hedgehogs, bats, swifts, and the Big Five pollinators: flies, wasps, bees, butterflies and moths.

One of the UK's rarest birds has bred on a nature reserve near Hull for the first time in its history.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT) said a juvenile bittern was spotted at North Cave wetlands last week, marking the first time the species had ever bred on its site.

Bitterns, which make a distinctive booming call, were once extinct in the UK but returned in the 20th Century.

A grassland habitat could double in size as an old farming approach is set to be used to boost biodiversity.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust's proposal for the Greystones Farm nature reserve, external in Bourton-on-the-Water involves reinstating a traditional beef herd for grazing.

The trust said this change will help to increase the area of farmed land that also benefits nature, supporting farmland birds such as yellowhammers.

Sea swimmers have suggested brown flags could be used on beaches to indicate pollution in the water.

Members of the Bluetits sea swimming group said the flags would be especially useful to tourists who may not know how to check the water quality at beaches they visit.

Janet Shephard, who regularly swims at Perranporth in Cornwall said: "We get red flags if you can't see because of the sea conditions and I think we need brown flags for pollution."

A new water regulator will replace the powers of Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the Environment Agency to “reset” a sector tarnished by scandals over sewage spills and financial mismanagement, after a major review of the sector.

The government will adopt the recommendation for England and Wales made in the review it commissioned from Sir Jon Cunliffe, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, which was released on Monday. In England, the powers of Natural England will also be subsumed.

The environment secretary, Steve Reed, said: “The government will abolish Ofwat. In the biggest overhaul of water regulation in a generation, we will bring water functions from four different regulators into one.

RANGERS at Ryton Pools Country Park have recorded the 3,000th species at the site.

The honour went to a tiny micro-moth, Narycia duplicella, discovered by Countryside Ranger George while out looking for Pine Ladybirds.

The milestone is a result of years of site management and recording work, a collaboration between the ranger team and local experts and volunteers.

The site now supports regionally and nationally important species – including all 14 species of bumblebee found in Warwickshire, rare spiders, and priority butterfly species like the Wood White and Dark Green Fritillary.

JULY is the peak of summertime glory. Warm summer days are punctuated by the hum of insects; our butterflies and moths fluttering their way through our grassy green spaces and bees buzzing in search of nectar. Birds dance their way through gloriously blue skies, and many of our mammals emerge to bask in the summer sun.

Yorkshire’s meadows and grasslands come alive in summer too. Orchids burst into being in a riot of sculptural colour, bellflowers, plantain and field scabious turn their faces to the skies, and globeflowers spread out across fields in a sunny spectacle. Hoards of butterflies and moths flutter in amongst the stems, as skylarks sing their hearts out overhead.

Rich in variety, grassland meadows, hay meadows and floodplain meadows have unique wildlife that relies upon subtly different habitat to survive. The recent State of Yorkshire’s Nature report also found that meadows formed on limestone and wetland landscapes are key wildlife habitats in Yorkshire. These protect our most important Yorkshire Stronghold Species, those found in few or no other place, and give a home to many Species of Conservation Concern.

Birmingham has been recognised as the UK's first official Nature City by a group including the National Trust and Natural England.

The city has been awarded the accolade as part of a programme working to improve access to nature in urban communities.

The award recognised the role played by the city council and others in providing communities in Birmingham with better access to nature and green spaces.

Water companies spilled raw sewage for a record time of 3.61m hours into sea and rivers in England in 2024, according to data from the Environment Agency.

Rules allow a limited discharge of sewage in periods of excess rain, but environmental groups remain concerned that the levels post a threat to wildlife and a health risk to swimmers.

Sewage spills into England's lakes, rivers and seas by water companies increased slightly in 2024 to 3.614 million hours up from 3.606 million hours in 2023. However, the Environment Agency said that the total number of spills were down - meaning that on average spills in 2024 were longer in duration.

A barn owl mum discovered at a Lincolnshire farm has been described as rare and incredible. Not only is the creature the oldest barn owl ever to have been recorded, the female was found successfully breeding a six-week-old chick.

The bird of prey has left experts amazed after she was discovered at Eastfield Farm in Hough. The incredible creature is 18-years-old - and experts are sure she’s the oldest barn owl ever recorded in Britain or Ireland.

The owl was ringed as a chick, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) have confirmed, she had a ring placed around her leg in Nottinghamshire back in 2007, allowing tracking of the bird.

Everyone cherishes the sight of a wee black-nosed hedgehog pottering about in their garden - yet many remain oblivious to the challenges these prickly creatures face during the summer months.

While we humans may grumble about the heat, we have the luxury of fans, chilled pints or a refreshing plunge in the pool to keep us cool. In contrast, wild hedgehogs encounter two primary difficulties - a scarcity of succulent insects to feast upon and a lack of cool water bodies to frolic in.

The majority of hedgehogs are born in June and July, and according to Hedgehog Street, the charmingly named baby hedgehogs, or hoglets, are making appearances in back gardens nationwide.

A prehistoric fish that predates the dinosaurs is thriving in a North Wales river after the removal of a well known weir. Last summer the EU-funded LIFE Dee River project, led by Natural Resources Wales, removed a large proportion of Erbistock weir, on the River Dee.

Following this removal fisheries experts have discovered 25 sea lamprey redds (nests) upstream of the former barrier. They said this is a clear and tangible sign that environmental interventions on the River Dee are gradually transforming the ecosystem for the better.

Earlier this month, the project team captured drone footage highlighting one of these redds just 40 metres downstream of Manley Hall gauging weir. This confirms the removal of Erbistock(Overton) weir in Wrexham county has opened up an additional four kilometres of critical habitat, enabling these incredible, prehistoric fish to return to spawning grounds long restricted by man-made obstacles.

Nurturing Natural Connections is a transformative five-year project that will restore urban wildlife and empower communities across Cumbernauld and The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) will play a key role in delivering it.

Supported by National Lottery players through The National Lottery Heritage Fund, this is a wide-reaching programme of nature restoration and community engagement. As part of this, TCV will expand our charitable work in the area and deepen our impact on both people and nature.

Healthcare professionals are being trained to use nature in treating people with poor mental health, it has been announced.

Natural England said it was funding courses so NHS staff from across Sussex could learn how to work in outdoor settings.

It comes as less than half the population say they've been to the countryside or a local park recently, according to government statistics, external.

"The importance of open spaces cannot be underestimated," said Sarah Davies, Natural England's principal adviser for partnerships in Sussex and Kent.

Adaptations to some butterflies' habitats are being made to help them cope with erratic weather driven by climate change.

The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is hoping for a bumper year for butterflies in 2025 following the record-breaking spring heat, but warns overall the insects' populations are drastically dropping.

The trust is trialling four e-shaped mounds, called butterfly banks, on its Coombe Bisset reserve to offer the creatures a space both to warm up and to cool down during heatwaves.

Ministers will take action to tackle all forms of water pollution in England and Wales, the government has promised, as the sector awaits the findings of a report on the water industry on Monday.

The commitment by Steve Reed, the environment secretary, aims to highlight that, while sewage spills into waterways are a significant source of public concern, runoff from farms and roads also makes up a critical part of the pollutants going into rivers and other bodies of water.

A report on the water industry in England and Wales, led by Sir Jon Cunliffe, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, is due to be published on Monday morning, and is expected to recommend the abolition of Ofwat, the water industry regulator.

NATURE enthusiasts are celebrating after a rare moth was spotted in Essex for the first time in 50 years.

The forester moth is listed in The Essex Field Club species account as “very scarce” and was first recorded in Essex in 1895.

With 13 total records, the latest record was in 1974.

A council that transformed intensively mown areas into thriving wildflower corridors to help insects and wildlife has won an award.

Bedford Borough Council was honoured with the Bees' Needs Champion Award 2025 for its pollinator-friendly initiatives. It previously won in 2021.

The authority said it had worked to provide food and shelter for animals, as well as "safeguard open spaces from vehicle incursions by planting wildflower-rich landscape features along park boundaries".

Spotting a rare sea slug in UK waters was "absolutely incredible" says an underwater photographer.

Maria Munn from Swanage, Dorset, captured the Warty Doris near Old Harry's Rocks in Studland Bay earlier this month.

The ocean lover who volunteers with Seasearch, a project led by the Marine Conservation Society, said she was "so excited" and had to "do a double take".

Barn owl conservationists in Sussex say they are worried about a drop in population numbers as they aim to find out what has caused the "worst breeding season in decades".

Volunteers say they have seen fewer than 10 chicks in nest boxes across the county so far this year, a marked decline on previous breeding seasons which had generally seen a recovery in barn owl numbers.

Researchers from the University of Brighton are trying to discover why numbers are so low. They are monitoring what the barn owls eat to help study their habitat.

A coalition of environmental and heritage bodies has launched a billion-pound mission to bring nature into the heart of urban areas in the UK.

The first phase of the Nature Towns and Cities initiative will involve £15.5m being invested in 40 towns and cities across the four nations.

Schemes that will be funded range from the launch of a large regional park to improving micro green spaces on the banks of canals and rivers.

People are being urged to help measure the scale of Britain’s butterfly bounceback after last summer’s dramatic decline with this year’s launch of the world’s biggest insect survey.

The Big Butterfly Count asks volunteers to spend 15 minutes in a local green space counting the butterflies and day-flying moths they see. Results of the survey, which takes place from 18 July to 10 August, can be logged on the Butterfly Conservation charity’s website or via its free app.

Naturalists say it has been an “outstanding” summer for butterflies and other flying insects but the Big Butterfly Count will determine whether it has been better than average or simply a return to normal after the dismal, butterfly-less summer of 2024.

Simply create a wild patch, record its location online and encourage much-needed natural insect prey and nesting materials for native hedgehogs

This July, gardeners, families and individuals are being urged to create wild patches as part of a new campaign to make more spaces with natural insect food and nesting materials for native hedgehogs.

The new ‘Go WILD for Hedgehogs’ campaign from Hedgehog Street – run by wildlife charities People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) – simply involves leaving a wild, undisturbed patch in a garden and recording its location online. Not only does this create much-needed food and shelter for hedgehogs, but also tells conservationists at PTES and BHPS where hedgehog havens are, and where more are needed.

A pair of peregrine falcon chicks have fledged their nest at a newly constructed box on a water tower.

Cameras at BT's Adastral Park in Martlesham near Ipswich captured an unorthodox take-off by the first to leave, a male bird.

Raptor expert Peter Merchant said the chicks had survived "against the odds" and were the offspring of birds that had been regularly seen fighting.

Their eggs took 44 days to hatch - far longer than the expected 33 days.