Durham Countryside Service and Volunteers

06/05/2026

Spring Cowslips (Primula veris) at Littlewood Local Nature Reserve.

These flowers are an important early source of nectar for birds and bees but also traditionally were part of celebrations for mayday and wedding celebrations. There are stories about their keylike flower being dropped by St.Peter hence their nickname, 'Keys of Heaven'.

Littlewood is close to Kingswood, Crowtrees and Coxhoe Quarry Wood Local Nature Reserves which form a huge wildlife corridor.

The leaflet for Littlewood is here:https://www.durham.gov.uk/media/3998/Littlewood-Nature-Reserve/pdf/LittlewoodNatureReserve.pdf

Littlewood Local Nature Reserve is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It contains a small pocket of Magnesian Limestone grassland,one of the UK’s rarest habitats and is home to a rich and distinctive group of plants and insects.

In summer, the meadows bloom with flowers typical of these grasslands including nationally rare plants. Littlewood is a glorious haven for over 18 species of butterflies,brown hares,field voles and weasels,and numerous birds including skylark, linnet,little owl and green woodpecker and we recommend losing yourself there and our other nature reserves this springtime.

If you fancy a free guided wildflower walk why not join us at Wildflower and Folklore Walk Wingate Quarry or Wildflower and Folklore Walk Shotton Colliery this month?

05/05/2026

🦇🦇🦇May is a busy month and we kick off with Bats and Birds at Tanfield Lea this week. 🐦🐦‍⬛🦉🦆 The Deerness View Bat Walk is SOLD OUT but we have FREE places on our Tanfield one.

Join our new resident expert batgirl to learn about these amazing creatures and detect them using our bat detectors on Thursday.

Meanwhile come and meet us and visit the site tomorrow for our Spring Bird Survey. We found lots of amazing birds last time in Winter and we would love you to join us to see what is happening here in springtime. We will meet in the car park at 10am. Please DM or email us (countryside@durham.gov.uk) to confirm you're coming or for more information/directions.

More event info and Bat tickets here:
Bat Night Tanfield Lea Marsh
Spring Bird Survey Tanfield Lea Marsh Local Nature Reserve

FREE countryside events in May for all to enjoy. 🐦🦇🐝🦋

For the bird surveys please DM or email us at countryside@durham.gov.uk and we will arrange our meeting point.

National Children's Gardening Week is a free drop in event (you may wish to book our fabulous learning event on the morning too*).

For all other events visit the QR code link or use this link:
https://events.durham.gov.uk/1/Home/List/?search=&area=&cat=0&date=0&venue=0&provider=&sf=&dm=&cost=free&items=10&page=1

*Here is the information for the@National Children's Gardening Week learning event!...👇
https://www.facebook.com/events/976952384784749/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22search%22%7D%2C%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22attachment%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22newsfeed%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D

29/04/2026

With our bird surveys coming up we visited the Ranger to find out what was flying about on our coastal sites yesterday. The nature reserves along the Durham coastline provide important habitat. Sightings included lapwings, linnets, dunnocks, loads of skylarks, grey partridges, goldcrest, blackcap, grasshopper warblers, meadow pipit, willow warbler, wren, sing thrush, reed bunting, greenfinch, lesser whitethroat, chaffinch, robin and blue tit.

Many of these we heard before we saw and worked it out from memory, with the help of the free Merlin app and using our binoculars.

We want to know how YOU remember different bird calls when you're out walking.

For example:
Great Tit says, "Teacher, teacher"
Chiff Chaff says, "Chiff Chaff"
Lapwings say, "Pewit!"

If you have one please share it in the comments.

28/04/2026

Summer is around the corner. Here are some dates for your diary! Activities are free and for anyone of any age or experience but please book here or send us a message:

https://events.durham.gov.uk/1/Home/List/?search=&area=&cat=0&date=0&venue=0&provider=&sf=&dm=&cost=free&items=10&page=1

24/04/2026

To celebrate Children's Gardening Week, in May half term we will be in Wharton Park potting up some pollinator plants with visitors and creating bee homes. Our Community team and the Ranger will be on hand to talk about helping wildlife in your garden and in the countryside. It's drop in and free and you can take away your planted seeds to enjoy growing at home.

The Community Garden team will also be about. Why not pop in to find our what's growing on?

There is also an event with our lovely learning team on the morning if you'd like to make a day of it:
https://www.facebook.com/events/976952384784749/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22search%22%7D%2C%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22attachment%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22newsfeed%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D

23/04/2026

We love seeing what you upload into Inaturalist when you visit County Durham's countryside. It helps us to monitor, plan and improve habitat and management of sites for conservation AND you create important scientific records.

It's a free and easy app that we encourage everyone to try. It can be accessed by phone app and at www.inaturalist.org

Now, here's a challenge...what can you spot and upload onto inaturalist between Friday 24th-Monday 27th April? It's being done right around the world and ERIC North East are compiling all the finds. You'll be surprised at all the flora and fauna you can spot in a few days.

If you enjoy using it this weekend, keep going. Our whole team use Inaturalist and one of our Rangers has over 2000 different species observed, mostly seen in this County!

22/04/2026

FREE countryside events in May for all to enjoy. 🐦🦇🐝🦋

For the bird surveys please DM or email us at countryside@durham.gov.uk and we will arrange our meeting point.

National Children's Gardening Week is a free drop in event (you may wish to book our fabulous learning event on the morning too*).

For all other events visit the QR code link or use this link:
https://events.durham.gov.uk/1/Home/List/?search=&area=&cat=0&date=0&venue=0&provider=&sf=&dm=&cost=free&items=10&page=1

*Here is the information for the@National Children's Gardening Week learning event!...👇
https://www.facebook.com/events/976952384784749/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22search%22%7D%2C%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22attachment%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22newsfeed%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D

21/04/2026

Seven wonderful walks in County Durham this May. Including Saturdays 😎🥾🥾🌞

16/04/2026

Exciting news from Hardwick Park! An Iberian Chiffchaff has been spotted! 🎉

This is only the second time this species has ever been recorded in County Durham. This small, olive, white and yellow warbler, normally breeds in Spain and Portugal and only rarely turns up in the UK.

Its appearance here is a reminder of how migration can sometimes bring unexpected visitors to our local green spaces — a special moment showing just how connected we are to wildlife across Europe. 💚

The Iberian Chiffchaff's song is very different to our resident 'common' Chiffchaffs and it can be heard and seen in the woodland between our new West End Wildlife Pond and Outdoor Learning Site at the far west end of the Serpentine Lake.

Image: Peter Baty

09/04/2026

Another day of blissful wildlife watching with visitors to Malton Picnic Area. Each site is so unique and special and we have enjoyed recording the biodiversity with you. Thank you to everyone who came today. We hope to see you at our next event.

We have bat walks, bird surveys, butterfly counts, bioblitzes and more coming this Spring and Summer in County Durham.

Check out the free parks and countryside community events on durham.gov.uk

We have lots if volunteering opportunities too if you'd like to spend time helping your local countryside.

09/04/2026

Good Morning from Malton Picnic Area Bioblitz come and join us

08/04/2026

Thanks to everyone who joined us to explore Waldridge Fell amongst the heather, bilberry and gorse this morning. We saw, heard and recorded a huge range of birds, butterflies and other insects and had some great chats about wildlife and caring for the countryside.

We have one more Bioblitz this week. It is tomorrow at Malton Picnic Area and all are welcome. We can sign you in on the morning and it's free.

We do activities like these every school holiday but we can also do one for your local community group and schools.

Don't forget to check out our upcoming bird surveys too!