Kate Ryder

Britain has lost around half its hedgerows since the Second World War. The wildlife that depended on them has followed a similar trajectory. 🌿 The old field boundary — a strip of blackthorn, hawthorn, dog rose, and elder two to five metres wide between cultivated ground — was not wasted agricultural space. It was a functioning ecological system that maintained pollinators, pest predators, and farmland birds across centuries of working land. Each hedgerow is a nesting corridor for grey partridge and skylark, a foraging habitat for brown hares and hedgehogs, a site for solitary bee colonies, and a windbreak for the crops alongside it. The field cultivated to its very edge gives the maximum return this season. It removes the populations of beneficial insects, farmland birds, and small mammals on which stable long-term production depended. The field with a hedgerow yields a few percent less per cultivated hectare — but remains productive across decades without compensatory chemical inputs. The documented declines in grey partridge, lapwing, and skylark across the British agricultural landscape since the 1970s are directly linked to field consolidation and hedgerow removal. Practical equivalents for the garden or smallholding: - A strip of wildflower meadow at least one metre wide at the plot boundary - A clump of nettles in a shaded corner as a habitat base for red admiral, small tortoiseshell, and peacock butterflies - A native mixed hedge of blackthorn and hawthorn in place of post-and-wire fencing - A section of uncut grass between rows of fruit trees #HedgerowHabitat #FarmlandWildlife #NativeHedge #GardenWildlife

In old German belief, lily of the valley were called Maiglöckchen, “little May bells”, and sacred to Ostara, goddess of dawn and spring. Their white flowers symbolised purity, their green leaves hope. They came to embody new beginnings and earth’s renewal after winter. #folklore

The water-loving fairies of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, 1920s #vintage #art #illustration #FairyTaleTuesday

Please Be Kind To Moles. They are beneficial to soil health, acting as natural aerators and pest control by consuming lawn-damaging grubs, beetles, and larvae. They do not eat plants, and their removal often leads to new moles occupying the vacant tunnel system, making it a futile effort. Apart from that, it is CRUEL!

We’ve all seen a double rainbow, but have you ever seen the sky do this? 🤔 This rare phenomenon happens when sunlight reflects off the water’s surface and then passes through rain droplets in the air. The reflected sunlight acts like a second sun, producing additional rainbow arcs that cross the primary ones—creating this stunning crisscross effect. It’s pure optics, perfect timing, and the ocean acting like a giant mirror ☀️💧 Nature doesn’t repeat itself often… and when it doesn’t, it really shows off.

This tune is really powerful ☘️ The Man of the House

The Listening Experience brings Shift The Story guides into audio form, giving you six calm ways to rethink overthinking, validation, identity, boundaries, clarity, and direction wherever you are.

A whole family of squirrels 🐿️ It's wonderful to look at them like this 💚♥️

@studio22artz Gorgeous! 😍

Morning all. I’m trying hard to work on a few more drawings today. Seeing if I can finish this little ball of loveliness. #art #drawing #hedgehog

A branch fell off your oak last fall. You've been meaning to haul it to the curb. It's been on the ground for six months. In that time, it became an apartment building. Year one: Fungi colonize the exposed wood. You can see the first brackets forming on the bark — small, shelf-like growths that are breaking down the lignin and cellulose inside. The branch is getting softer. By year two or three: Beetle larvae have tunneled into the softened wood. Their galleries — winding channels the width of a pencil lead — aerate the interior. Woodpeckers find the branch and drill into it to extract the larvae. By year five: A red-backed salamander has moved into one of the beetle galleries. She lives in the damp, rotting wood and hunts pill bugs, mites, and springtails on the surface. The branch is now a hunting ground and a shelter. By year ten: The branch is mostly soil. The fungi, the beetles, the salamander, the woodpecker — they converted a fallen limb into nutrients that are feeding the tree it fell from. 🌿 A different way to see the branch: - A fallen branch is not debris — it's a building under construction - If it's not blocking a path, leave it where it fell - The fungi that colonize it aren't disease — they're decomposers doing their job - One fallen branch can support more than thirty species over its lifetime You almost hauled it to the curb. Thirty species are using it now. 🌿 #DeadWood #Decomposition #NatureReframe #BackyardEcology #HiddenEcosystem

Such joy!

Pop-up book of Leonardo Da Vinci's inventions.

A medieval palace in the English countryside has a small bell mounted by a window, with a rope hanging down to the moat below. Since the 1850s, the resident swans have been pulling the rope to ring the bell when they want to be fed. The tradition began when one of the bishop’s daughters taught it to a single swan in the 1850s, and the swans have been passing it on ever since. The current pair, Grace and Gabriel, are the latest in the line. Each year, after their cygnets hatch, Gabriel walks them up to the bell and teaches them to pull the rope before they leave the moat to start their own lives. The tradition is now 170 years old.

River flows in you 🎶

Wide angle shot of the beautiful crescent moon at Stonehenge just before sunrise today 🌙😍 Photo credit Nick Bull 🙏 #moon #crescentmoon #sunrise #april #spring

Having watched the various Jurassic Park movies, i think I'd be freaking out!!!!

@studio22artz Stunning! 😍

A lone grey wolf raises its head to the moon, unleashing a soul-deep howl. The forest replies in wild chorus.

Rotherham, England replaced 8 miles of mowed grass with wildflowers. They saved £25,000 in mowing costs a year and bees, butterflies, and birds showed up almost immediately. You don’t need to wait for your city to act. Start small in your own patch: 🏡 Let your front verge or sidewalk strip go wild this spring 🌻 Toss a few native wildflower seed balls into neglected spots 🌱 Stop mowing one strip and see what shows up 📧 Contact your city government. One email from one person has started initiatives like this before One person. One small patch. Real habitat. Your street could be next.