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Alder Tree & Bees
Alder trees are well adapted to the wet, low-nutrient habitats where they have found, with special physical adaptations and association with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their roots.
Fun fact: Venice is built on alder wood pilings!
There are over 270 species of bees in the UK, most of which are solitary bee species. One of the most widespread and common of these is the common carder bee (on the right).
Connection: alder trees provide a source of early pollen for emerging bees like the common carder.
Ash Tree & Fungi
Ash trees are an integral part of many woodlands and hedgerows in the UK. Since the early 2000s, Ash Dieback, caused by a fungus, is killing around 70% of infected trees.
Connection: ash trees are being killed by one species of fungus, but others break down the dead wood, returning nutrients to the ecosystem, an important form of nutrient cycling.
Fun fact: the wood from ash is used in making handles for tools such as hammers and axes, because it is good at absorbing impact!
Brown Hare & Dung Beetle
Brown Hares have been in the UK for at least 2000 years and are considered to be a naturalised species. A group of hares is known by a number of different names including a down, a husk or a drove. Why do you think there are so many differnt names?
Dung Beetles are perhaps best known not in the UK, but elsewhere in the world where the roll balls of poo and some even use the stars to help them navigate. Whilst we don’t have any of those sort of species in the UK, there are over 60 native species that perform the important job of clearing up all the poo. Without them, we’d be knee-deep in it!
Connection: Dung Beetles will consume Hare poo along with all the other poo out there!
Dragonfly & Yellow Iris
Dragonflies have incredible compound eyes consisting of thousands of ommatidia, which give it an incredible sense of sight. The large compound eyes mean they can see in all directions around them and they can see colours way beyond our comprehension.
The Yellow Iris is a familiar waterside plant found alongside slow moving or still bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, ponds and canals. It is thought to be the plant that inspired the fleur-de-lis, which is also the symbol of the scouts.
Connection: dragonflies/damselflies may emerge onto irises as they metamorphose and adults may be found perching on these plants.
Fun fact: There are fossil records of dragonflies with a 60cm wingspan!
Earthworm & Hedgehog
Horatio the hedgehog
Horatio is a hedgehog,
Has gone hunting for food to eat,
Rummaging around the old log,
Digging the earth with his feet.
His nose is sniffing everywhere,
For in the darkness of the night,
They tell him the insects are there,
So he can find them without light.
Alongside the fence he walks,
Looking for a tasty treat,
Moving round the flower stalks,
He finds a worm to eat.
Then once he is fully fed,
He sees that dawn is on its way,
So returns to his cosy bed,
To sleep in peace through the day.
Hedgehogs are well known species that are facing many threats including habitat loss and fragmentation. Firm favourites in the UK they feature in many part of our culture from Mrs Tiggywinkle by Beatrix Potter to the Green Cross Code campaign in the 1990s!
Earthworms were considered so important by Charles Darwin that he spent years studying them and one of his experiments is still going at his home in Kent! Their action of consuming dead leaves is what builds soil, recycling nutrients and putting them back into the soil for plants and other organisms to access.
Connection: Hedgehogs eat earthworms.
Fun fact: did you know that there are around 30 species of earthworm in the UK, with about 16 species found in our gardens.
‘Horatio the Hedgehog’ poem for children by Jenny Maryl (c). Reproduced with permission. Please visit Jenny’s website for the original and for more of her beautiful poems.
Goldfinch & Teasel
If you watched WinterWatch 2025 on BBC TV you may have noticed there was a bit about Goldfinches and Teasels. Essentially, only the males have the right beak length to access the seeds in the centre of the teasel head. In winter, when this is a major food source in the UK, males are likely to stay here, with females tending to overwinter on the continent.
Connection: some goldfinches eat teasel seeds.
Teasel facts at The Wildlife Trusts: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/teasel
Goldfinch information at the RSPB (including identification and song recordings): https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/goldfinch
Lapwing & Cranefly
Lapwings are a type of plover, which are all wading birds. The collective noun (group name) is a deceit or desert. This comes from their habit of leaving the nest and distracting predators. Fiercely protective parents, they have been known to attack larger birds (including crows and birds of prey). One group of around 30 adults has been reported attacking a fox!
There are about 350 species of Cranefly in the UK. These are associated most with wet/boggy ground. The adults are poor at flying and have quite delicate legs (which often break off!).
Connection: lapwings eat the larvae of craneflies (often known as leatherjackets), forming a significant part of their diet.
Fun fact: craneflies go through full metamorphosis from egg -> larva -> pupa -> adult!
Oak Tree & Lichens
Oak trees are one of our best-known and loved species in the UK, but did you know that there are actually 2 species (and they cross-breed to form hybrids)?
Remarkably, oak trees can support over 2,300 species, making these the super-connectors of the countryside.
Connection: Lichens can be found on the trunks, branches and twigs of oak trees. They don’t cause any damage to the tree as they are just living on the surface.
Lichens are fascinating colony species that are consist of an alga or cyanobacteria growing with a fungus. There are around 1,800 species in the UK. Sensitive to pollution, many species died out in towns, cities and the countryside due to air pollution from industry. Following the clean air act, this has improved dramatically.
Otter & Eel
Connection: You may have guessed from this video what the connection is! Whilst this is a conger eel, the European eel is another species that otters will feast on!
European River Otters nearly became extinct in the UK due to hunting and pollution, but they have now returned to every county and are thriving due to improvements in water quality and reductions in use of some harmful pesticides.
European Eels however are critically endangered, partially due to over-consumption, barriers to migration (e.g. dams) and climate changes that are affecting their migration.
Fun fact: Unknown for thousands of year, recent technological advances have allowed scientists to pinpoint the exact location in the Sargasso Sea where eels go to breed!
Swift & Human
Swifts are summer visitors to the UK, having travelled thousands of miles from South Africa to breed here. Loss of nesting sites and reduced numbers of insects are threats to their survival, but help is at hand. Lancaster is one of a number of cities in the UK to sign up as a ‘Swift City’, with groups making nesting boxes and creating habitats that support insects, providing more food.
As humans, we often forget we are part of nature and how much our actions influence or impact on other species. We can see from the example of swifts, that it is possible to support nature and make space for it. As with the swifts, humans have undertaken migrations since early in our evolution. Climate change may see this increase. Can we work more with nature to help reduce the impacts both for other species and our own?
Connection: Swifts often nest in buildings and as part of the Swift City project Lancaster Men’s Hub have been building swift boxes. Visit our How can I help? page for more information.