Your Wildlife Window on the World Wide Web

Over 2000 illustrated identification guides to > 720 Wildflower pages; > 800 Fungi pages; > 86 British and European Birds; > 50 native British Trees; > 160 butterflies, moths, dragonflies and other aquatic Insects; > 55 Fish species; > All of Britain's Reptiles and Amphibians; > A large selection of Mammals including many Bats.

Newsflash: a very rare shade of Scarlet

No, these are not Orange Peel fungus Aleuria aurantia (which grows on compacted soil), but the very rare yellow-orange form of Scarlet Elfcup, Sarcoscypha austriaca var. lutea, which grows on rotting wet hardwood twigs, in this instance Hazel. On our web page there is also a picture of the rare white form of Sarcoscypha austriaca... Picture left: Iris Millar and Donna Rainey.

Late winter and early spring are the best times for seeing ascomycete fungi such as these.

Enjoy the great outdoors with our great deals...

Fascinated by Fungi

This bestselling 450-page hardback book is the most comprehensive, easy-to-follow introduction to the largely unexplored kingdom of life. More details...

With well over 1000 colour photographs, Pat O'Reilly's new edition of Fascinated by Fungi covers so much that you won't find in any other fungi books. Fully deserving its rave reviews and five-star ratings. Available online here...

Wild Orchids of Wales

Sue Parker's new 200-page hardback book Wild Orchids of Wales - how, when and where to find them covers all of the wild orchid species that occur in Wales. More details...

There are maps, directions and access information for 50 top orchid sites and walks. Anyone who loves wildflowers (especially wild orchids) would be thrilled to receive this acclaimed hardback. Available online here...

Wild Orchids of the Algarve

For residents and visitors alike, Sue Parker's definitive field guide, Wild Orchids of the Algarve - how, when and where to find them, is a must-have companion. More details...

There are detailed maps, directions and advice on the best wild orchid walks in Portugal's famous Algarve region. Anyone interested in orchids will be delighted with this authoritative hardback book. Available online here...

Algarve Wildlife

This fully revised and enlarged hardback new edition builds upon the success of the bestselling first edition of Algarve Wildlife - the natural year. More details...

The 288-page full-colour guide to wildlife, flowers and fungi species found throughout the year is arranged in fortnightly sections, with a map and detailed descriptions of the Algarve's finest nature sites. Available online here...

Microscopy for Amateur Mycologists

It's amazing how much more you can learn about fungi if you have access to a microscope. Our no-jargon Online Guide to Mushroom Microscopy has all the essential information about choosing and using a compound microscope, selecting chemical stains, preparing slides etc to help you get started.

There are also examples of the microscopic 'characters' cited in identification keys. More details...

Focus on Ascomycetes

Asci of the Eyelash Fungus, Scutellaria scutellata

Ascomycetes are fascinating, especially when viewed with a microscope. Here the spores of the Eyelash Fungus Scutellaria scutellata can be seen packed in sets of eight into the asci tubes. The same image in higher magnification can be seen on our Eyelash Fungus page.

Pat O'Reilly's new edition of the bestselling book Fascinated by Fungi contains a very useful introduction to fungal microscopy.

This best-selling book means a great deal to flyfishers

A new, fully revised and updated edition of Matching the Hatch is now available. Since its publication in 1997, this bestselling book has helped tens of thousands of flyfishers to understand the flies and other aquatic creates that trout and grayling feed upon and to select the best artificial flies and use them correctly. Pat O'Reilly's 'Magnificent Seven' for beginners and his 'Deadly Dozen' for more experienced anglers have brought clarity to what in the past was a cause of confusion and frustration. Copies of the bang up to date Pocket Edition are available on Special Offer here...

The battiest of bats - a book for readers and writers

Side-splittingly funny with a plot and outrageously hillarious characters unlike anything you have read before... we promise! Pat O'Reilly's latest novel, Frazzle, is now available in paperback or as a Kindle e-book from Amazon (UK and worldwide).

Full details and a free sample of the opening chapters of the book are now on Amazon... Or...

Find out more here about the fantasy parallel universes of Pat's hilariously unique new book...

Blue is not a colour normally associated with mushrooms, but there are a few striking blue species. Pictured here is one that makes itself obvious in another way too: the Aniseed Funnel Clitocybe odora can be found by 'following your nose'! See our Sortable Fungi Index for pictures and identification details for more than 770 fascinating fungi species.

Note on terminology

We use the term wildflowers where some people still write wild flowers as two words; however, whether you prefer wildflowers or wild flowers we are sure you will find many flower species of interest in our wildflower pages. Similarly with fungi: some people call all edible fungi mushrooms, using the term toadstools to denote inedible of poisonous fungi. Others reserve the term mushroom for Agaricus species such as field mushrooms. We use the term mushroom to describe any cap-and-stem fungi, whereas brackets, crusts, puffballs and other non-mushroom-shaped types of fungi are referred to simply as fungi. To many people, wildlife means animals such as birds, mammals and insects. Are wildflowers (or wild flowers) wildlife? They are living things, and part of Nature; we therefore use wildlife to imply all living creatures, whether animals (including mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, fishes etc), plants such as wildflowers, trees, mosses and other 'lower plants' as well as fungi, lichens and slime moulds.