Durham Wildlife Trust

📚 Happy #WorldBookDay2026 🎉
Here are some of our fabulous volunteers with their favourite reads.
📖 You can browse our range of nature-themed books in-store at Rainton Meadows and Low Barns or online👉 durhamwt.com/shop

😔 Thank you for sharing this important message. 💚

Volunteer | Durham We are always looking for willing volunteers who share our passion for wildlife, conservation and broadening awareness. As a volunteer you can play an integral role in what we do.

Workshops on the day included demonstrations of hedge laying, pond dipping and trail cameras plus a guided walk.
💚 If you’d like to join our growing team of volunteers and support our vital work for wildlife across the region, visit durhamwt.com/volunteer for more information.
2/2

A four‑photo collage showing Durham Wildlife Trust activities, including an outdoor talk in winter woodland, a guided walk along a forest path, a person using binoculars at a wildlife hide, and an indoor workshop with a presenter. The Trust’s badger logo and a link to volunteer are displayed on the right.

We were delighted to welcome more than 70 prospective new volunteers to Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve in late February. They joined us to meet the team and learn all about what is involved in volunteering with the Trust.
1/2

Join Links with Nature in the Community Orchard at Hetton Park this Saturday, as we prepare the orchard for this year's growing season🌱

Booking is essential! Find out more at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/orchard-sp...

Three sparrows perched among a dense tangle of bare branches, their brown and white plumage standing out against the twiggy background.

A trio of sparrows.😍
📷 Hamish Paterson

Garden Bird Book Offer | Durham Become a member of Durham Wildlife Trust and treat yourself to a FREE Complete Garden Bird Book.

If you would like to become a member AND receive your free Garden Bird Book, please visit www.durhamwt.com/garden_bird_...

This offer is available until the 1st of March (just three days away!) but as a member you could help us to protect wildlife for decades to come 💚

Across our region, we are the custodians of 54 incredible natural spaces - from the rolling moorland of the North Pennines to the awe-inspiring North East Coast.

As a charity, we rely on the support of our members to manage our reserves and restore nature across our patch 🌱🌳

Come along to Milkwellburn Woods this half-term! 🌳🥾

Join our Northern Reserves Officer to learn how the team at Durham Wildlife Trust manages this reserve for wildlife and gain hands-on experience of tree planting.

www.durhamwt.com/events/2026-...

A great spotted woodpecker clinging to a mossy tree trunk, showing black‑and‑white wings and a red patch on its belly.

There are three species of British woodpecker - here's how to tell them apart 👇
durhamwt.com/identify-uk-woodpeckers
📷 Great spotted woodpecker by Paul Cleasby

There is just one week left to receive your free Complete Garden Bird Book when you become a member of Durham Wildlife Trust 🪺💚

Find out more at www.durhamwt.com/garden_bird_...

Oh how we love a murmuration. 😍
📍 Rainton Meadows
🎥 Caitlin Elwin

Two conservation workers in full protective gear stand in a woodland clearing beside a freshly felled tree, each holding a STIHL chainsaw.

The Trust has reached a significant milestone: 20 years of conservation traineeships and passing the 100 mark for people passing through the scheme. Read more 👉 durhamwt.com/news/clearing-way-jobs-nature

Top: flock of curlews standing on a rocky grassy shoreline. Bottom: close-up of a curlew in flight with wings spread.

A curfew of curlews captured on camera at Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve.
📷 Enid Hoseason - Rainton Meadows Wildlife Photography Group

In late winter and early spring, many birds of prey begin to display. On bright, dry mornings they take to the air and circle, dive or in some cases even lock talons with their mate, strengthening pair bonds and defending their territory.

🌐 www.durhamwt.com/blog/skydancing

Yellow hazel catkins hang from a branch with tiny red female flowers, set against bare winter trees at Bishop Middleham Quarry.

🌧️ Hang in there folks, spring will soon be springing.
📷 Tim Davis

Thanks for sharing, Paul. 😊

Getting ready for our spring visitors.🐦 Heart of Durham volunteers at Derwent Reservoir, recently, putting up bird boxes for pied flycatchers and redstarts. The flycatchers prefer a box with a hole of around 32mm whilst the redstarts prefer the open fronted box
📷 Laura Tedstone

A speckled brown thrush perched on a berry-covered branch, holding a bright red berry in its beak against a soft blue background.

Redwing at Rainton Meadows.😍
📷 Mark Thompson - Rainton Meadows Wildlife Photography Group

Town Kelloe Bank | Durham One of the most extensive areas of primary Magnesian Limestone grassland in Britain contained within a unique post-glacial landform

This ensures that our sites remain in tip-top condition for the summer to come. 🌸🌾
🌐 durhamwt.com/nature-reserves/town-kelloe-bank
2/2

Volunteers spaced across a steep grassy bank cutting scrub, with leafless trees and a cloudy sky behind; Durham Wildlife Trust branding in the corner.

😎 As we look forward to warm, sunny days and a plethora of wildflowers, our incredible volunteers are working tirelessly through the cold and wet weather to remove scrub (hawthorn, bramble and briers) from our globally important magnesian limestone nature reserves.
📷 Tim Davis
1/2

Three-photo collage of an otter in brown water: one swimming with only its head visible, one rising with mouth slightly open, and one facing the camera with whiskers prominent. Photo by Neil Siddell.

🦦😍
📷 Neil Siddell

Our 'Muddy Wellies' little ones had lots of fun pond dipping last week, learning all about World Wetlands Day in the process. We have more sessions coming up over the next few weeks, suitable for ages 2 to 5 years. Book online 👉durhamwt.com/events

We’re hiring. As City of Nature Officer, you will lead a bold, community‑led programme supporting wellbeing, sustainability and nature connection across Sunderland.
📝 Full-time, fixed term for 3 years, £29,741.00 p.a.
💻 More info 👉 durhamwt.com/jobs

Happy World Wetlands Day! 🌱💧

Swipe to see five wading birds you could spot on a visit to Rainton Meadows 👉

www.durhamwt.com/rainton-mead...

A black crow perched on a snow-dusted wooden fence, with bare winter trees in the background.

The crow family (known as corvids) are famous for their intelligence. Many species have shown an ability to solve problems, recognise human faces and even use tools!
🌐 durhamwt.com/blog/corvids
📷 Carrion crow by Mark Thompson - Rainton Meadows Wildlife Photography Group

Artwork inspired by a North East park and created by community volunteers will be exhibited to celebrate their town’s wildlife and nature.

Read more 👉 www.durhamwt.com/news/community-artwork

A small brown and white bird with black streaks perches on a wet, leafless branch surrounded by a tangle of twigs, set against a softly blurred background.

A sparrow-sized bird of reedbeds, wetlands and farmland, the reed bunting feeds on seeds and invertebrates.
📷 Sandra Neely - Rainton Meadows Wildlife Photography Group

A Goldcrest with olive-green plumage and a yellow head stripe perches among mossy twigs and red berries in a soft-focus woodland setting.

Weighing in at less than 6 grams, the goldcrest is Europe's smallest bird. Despite its size, its beautiful golden crown might well have earned it the title of 'king of the birds' in European folklore.
📷 Lyn Jones - Rainton Meadows Wildlife Photography Group