Local people are supporting the wildlife of Dorset’s River Allen by following a new guide for river users. Dorset Wildlife Trust’s new River Allen Users Guide is helping the community, landowners and fishermen to look after and enjoy one of Dorset’s most important chalk streams and protect some of...
Rare native elm trees on Brownsea Island are being protected under a new monitoring scheme in an effort to save them from Dutch Elm Disease. The smooth leaved elms Ulmus minor, survivors of the epidemic in the 1970s, are still at risk from the disease, prompting joint action by...
As we arrived at the car park the clouds parted and what had been a very wet morning turned into a very pleasant autumn day. The brisk south-westerly wind promised more seabirds than were actually delivered but we did see three species of gulls and a distant Common Scoter...
The winners of the 2012 Living Churchyard Competition have been announced by Dorset Wildlife Trust, following the visits of expert judges to over 25 Dorset churches. St James, Milton Abbas has scooped the top prize for a third year and there were winners from Branksome in the east to Beaminster...
Another lucky afternoon of dry weather (well nearly) after an incredibly wet 24 hours. We set off in very windy conditions but lovely bright sunshine holding on to our hats and enjoying the amazing views in front of us. We soon saw the first of several Wheatears of the afternoon...
This was our second attempt this walk, after giving up on a very wet July 2nd. Today we still didn't manage to reach our target, but we did at least get to the top of the hill at 262 metres (860 feet). The walk up the hill produced fairly...
We are often lucky with the weather on Monday afternoons but today was nothing short of miraculous, as we enjoyed a two-hour window of dry weather during a day of otherwise pretty much unrelenting rain. And that wasn't all - we were just a few yards out of the...
Before we could start this walk in one of my very favourite parts of Dorset we had to overcome a considerable obstacle - a locked gate. Possibly inspired by the nearby Olympic Games the group used a variety of vaults, somersaults and backflips to get to the other side...
Today we visited one of the top botanical sites in the county. Corfe Common has been grazed for hundreds of years and its hilly contours mean that it has never been practical to plough it. Consequently an enormous variety of plant species have flourished. Many of them, such...
We had already decided that we would chicken out of the walk up the ridiculously steep sides of Hod Hill and instead enjoy a leisurely stroll along the banks of the River Stour. This proved to be a wise decision with the grasses out in full flower on the...
