#wildlife of Europe

[calochortus]

Adonis Blue (Polyommatus bellargus) taking a sweaty drink... by Will Atkins Via Flickr: As I was trying to get a photo of it on some marjoram this male decided to make life a little harder for me by landing on my thumb instead!

[snototter]

A common raven (Corvus corax) perches on a wall in Scotland, UK

by Iain H Leach

[markscherz]

Behold, the European platonic ideal of a frog.

[useless-catalanfacts]

Landscape around Estany de la Fontviva, a glacial lake in the Pyrenee mountains, Northern Catalonia.

Photos by nicolas.bicorne.photos on Instagram.

[wolfsheart-blog]

Canis Lupus in summer night by N. Pekonen

[reasonsforhope]

"Thousands of trees have been planted by volunteers as part of a new temperate rainforest in south Devon.

More than 2,500 native trees have been planted so far this winter at Devon Wildlife Trust's Bowden Pillars site near Totnes.

The charity said as well as storing carbon, temperate rainforests supported "a super-abundance" of wildlife.

The trust is transforming 30 hectares (75 acres) of sheep-grazed fields into a landscape with 70% tree cover and open glades and wildflower-rich meadows.

The charity said more than a 100 local people planted species including oak, rowan, alder, hazel, birch, willow and holly.

Nick Biggs, an 83-year-old volunteer, said he got involved with the project after being inspired by his apprenticeship with the Forestry Commission in 1958.

"That introduced me to the environment," he said.

"I was really keen to carry on with it and it's good for your fitness just to get out and do something."

The trust said in decades to come the new trees would form a temperate rainforest with high rainfall and humidity.

Helen Aldis from Moor Trees, which supplied some of the saplings, said many had been gathered locally.

She said: "The oak that's going in today is from acorns that we've gathered on Dartmoor that have come back to our tree nursery.

"Our volunteers process those, pop them into the root trainers and then they come out a year or two later to become the woodlands of the future."

'Incredibly rare habitat'

The trust said the damp woodlands used to cover large parts of Britain, but today amount to just 1% of its land area.

Project leader Claire Inglis said: "It's an incredibly rare habitat and we've lost a great deal of it over the years.

"Across the UK there is around 13% woodland cover but in Devon it's actually 11%, so it's lower than the national average."

The trust said the forests supported a variety of birds such as pied flycatchers, woodcock and redstarts, while the damp conditions meant mosses, liverworts, lichens, ferns and fungi thrived on the trees and forest floor.

Ms Inglis added: "The mix of young trees in amongst grass pastures and hedges, along with our commitment not to use pesticides and artificial fertilisers, will be better for local moths, butterflies and bees, along with farmland birds such as yellowhammers and barn owls."

The trust said 7,000 trees would be planted in the first winter with more planned in the future."

-via BBC, January 30, 2025

[satakentiaphoto]

Sept 18. Chevaux, Crête de Grum. Pyrénées.

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

has the raccoon featured here yet? would love to request her if not.

We actually haven't, great pick! I'll do the common raccoon.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Wolves in eastern Turkey, near the border with Armenia. Europe’s wolf population is rising: there are approximately 21,500 across the continent, up from 17,000 in 2016.

Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

[mybeautifulpoland]

Baltic Sea, Gdynia, Poland by Grzegorz Januszewicz

[calochortus]

Follow the Leader.. by Will Atkins Via Flickr: Young banded snails (Cepea nemoralis) trek across the moss in my garden on a wet autumn day.

[snototter]

A walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) surfaces in Svalbard, Norway

by Tim Melling

[alejaolch]

Amanita muscaria Poland, September 2019

[useless-catalanfacts]

Vilafranca del Cid, in Castelló, north of the Valencian Country.

Photo by Jose Manuel Andrés (jose_ma12150)

[wolfsheart-blog]

🐺 by N. Pekonen