Tewkesbury Nature Reserve

Tewkesbury Nature Reserve 🌱Protecting nature and connecting communities 🌱

Tewkesbury Nature Reserve is a thriving green space where nature and community can come together.

Our free car park is open year round, subject to flooding.

Check out our Cyanotype printing with Tewkesbury Community Hospital patients and staff. We used seasonal foliage and per...
08/09/2026

Check out our Cyanotype printing with Tewkesbury Community Hospital patients and staff. We used seasonal foliage and personal items to create long lasting prints that were unique to each person and their story.

Being unwell can be a very challenging experience. As part of the Wildlife and Water for Wellbeing Project, we regularly visit care settings to provide nature based activities that bring distraction, enjoyment, movement and conversation.

These sessions have been especially well received by individuals living with dementia, as tactile activities can be a great way to share memories.

If you know of a group or individual that would benefit from nature based wellbeing activities please email us to enquire. All activities are NHS funded and provided to the users for free.
Contact Sarah the Learning and Wellbeing Officer : [email protected]

The deadline for a new role at Tewkesbury Nature Reserve is approaching. If you are interested in working for us as a Ci...
27/08/2026

The deadline for a new role at Tewkesbury Nature Reserve is approaching. If you are interested in working for us as a Citizen Science Coordinator (part-time), please see our listing on the vacancy page of our website.

If you're interested in co-ordinating and developing our citizen science activities on Tewkesbury Nature Reserve, enabling local people to participate in wildlife monitoring, data collection, and ecological learning, please apply.

https://tewkesburynaturereserve.org.uk/jobs/

Woodpeckers all over the world have incredible adaptations that allow them to drill into wood to hunt for insects and to...
26/08/2026

Woodpeckers all over the world have incredible adaptations that allow them to drill into wood to hunt for insects and to create nesting spots.
They have a super long tongue that can reach several inches out of their beak to slurp up insects. Weirdly, their tongue actually extends back around their entire skull when they aren't sticking it out, which helps protect their brain from repeated impact.

This Greater Spotted Woodpecker was photographed on the edge of the reserve by Eve Quiney.
The diagram from the American Bird Conservatory shows just how far back a woodpecker tongue goes! Read the full article if you're curious : https://abcbirds.org/news/woodpecker-tongues/

Whilst a summer hay cut is necessary for the maintenance of a wildflower meadow, it can dramatically change the look of ...
21/08/2026

Whilst a summer hay cut is necessary for the maintenance of a wildflower meadow, it can dramatically change the look of the landscape. The meadow is now starting to regrow and flowers are reappearing. The most common flower species at the moment is birds foot trefoil. One common name for birds foot trefoil is 'eggs and bacon', presumably due to the yellow flowers tinged with orange/red. This flower is one of a few larval food plants for the clouded yellow butterfly (pictured), which means we have continued sightings of this beautiful visitor. It's been a big year for sighting on the reserve. Have you seen one?

20/8/26 - Whilst the accessibility of the reserve hasn't changed for months due to the lack of rain, recent visits show ...
20/08/2026

20/8/26 - Whilst the accessibility of the reserve hasn't changed for months due to the lack of rain, recent visits show the cracking of the ground to be an increasing issue. In particular, please note that in the wildflower meadow, between the bench and the pond, a crack in the ground has been 'excavated' by some visitors to the reserve and large clumps of mud thrown into the pond. This leaves a large and deep hole in the path. This will be addressed early next week. In the meantime, please take care.

Do you recognise a water boatman when he's out of the water? Pictured here are some Greater water boatmen (also known as...
19/08/2026

Do you recognise a water boatman when he's out of the water?

Pictured here are some Greater water boatmen (also known as Backswimmers) who are usually seen skimming along upside down under the surface of ponds and rivers.
You'll notice that they have wings folded across their back, these are only used above water, as their oar-like legs do all the work when swimming.

These aquatic bugs are impressive underwater predators, preying on smaller invertebrates, tadpoles and flies.

They were carefully handled during a recent river dipping session with a HAF children's group.

Thank you to the 3rd Tewkesbury Cubs who have installed dog poo bag dispensers on the nature reserve! We really apprecia...
18/08/2026

Thank you to the 3rd Tewkesbury Cubs who have installed dog poo bag dispensers on the nature reserve! We really appreciate you encouraging everyone to tidy up after their dogs.
Lets all do our bit! 💪😃💚

We've found evidence of unauthorised fires or, more likely, a BBQ appear on the nature reserve this week. Unauthorised f...
18/08/2026

We've found evidence of unauthorised fires or, more likely, a BBQ appear on the nature reserve this week. Unauthorised fires or BBQs are not permitted anywhere on the nature reserve at any time. Even our educational fire sessions are suspended at this time due to the extreme dry and hot conditions. Thank you for your cooperation. Please be vigilant and report any fire to the emergency services.

On a recent family volunteering session, 5 families and a fantastic group of young Nature Guardians gave up their time t...
14/08/2026

On a recent family volunteering session, 5 families and a fantastic group of young Nature Guardians gave up their time to help us harvest wildflower seeds from the nature reserve. We used some of the seed to make seed bombs to take home, but also launched some in our wildflower meadow. We were also left with a bag for use elsewhere on the reserve this autumn and next spring.

Flower species included ox eye daisies, knapweed, birds foot trefoil, vetch species, red clover and great burnet to name a few, whilst avoiding a few species, such as dock, ragwort and thistles. It just shows that no matter what your age, there's something you can do to help wildlife.

An exciting find in the River Swilgate this week is this water scorpion. Although they are not rare, water scorpions are...
13/08/2026

An exciting find in the River Swilgate this week is this water scorpion. Although they are not rare, water scorpions are a rare find for us in our regular river dipping activities. This individual is small, with the typical size about 3.5cm. These underwater predators wait amongst dead leaves, ready to catch their prey - often tadpoles or small fish - with their pincer-like front legs. The 'tail' at the back of their abdomen is straw-like structure used for breathing. Have you ever seen one before?

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