Author Archives: Amanda Tuke
Counting urban Bee Orchids
My pal Geoff & I visit some urban Bee Orchids in a local housing estate lawn. We count 17 leaf rosettes nestled in the turf & will be back to see how many have flowered come late spring/early summer. When they do, this is what they look like.
Henbit Deadnettle – Pavement Plant
Even after days and days of rain, pavement plants are properly getting going in SE London. Here’s Henbit Deadnettle, doing its thing on a road verge. It’s in the Deadnettle family – Lamiaceae – and is superficially similar to its more common relative Red Deadnettle but the overall impression is that it has more defined […]
The ‘Tree-top teasers challenge’ – calls of ‘lollies’, creepers and kinglets
***Feedback on this challenge gratefully received as a comment on this post.*** Woodlands are wonderful places to listen to bird calls, but it can be a real tease as you may not manage to catch a glimpse of the target bird at all. Even more reason to really know the calls of birds which like […]
The ‘heard before seen challenge’ – calls of wagtails
***Feedback on this challenge gratefully received as a comment on this post.*** If you know your wagtails, you may have spotted that the picture is of a rare visitor to the British Isles, a Citrine Wagtail, rather than one of the three commoner ones – Pied, Grey and Yellow – which will be the focus […]
The ‘garden frequenters challenge part 3’ – calls of thrushes
***Feedback on this challenge gratefully received as a comment on this post.*** Part 3 of the ‘garden frequenters challenge’ covers the calls of the common thrushes. Like the tits in part 2, these are birds which are usually easy to identify by sight but their calls may be harder to remember. Step 1 – Describe […]
The ‘garden frequenters challenge part 2’ – calls of Blue, Great and Coal Tits
***Feedback on this challenge gratefully received as a comment on this post.*** Part 2 of the ‘garden frequenters challenge’ covers the calls of the common ‘true’ tits. These are birds which are usually easy to identify by sight but their calls can be confusing. Great Tit calls, in particular, are numerous and varied and worth […]
The ‘garden frequenters challenge part 1’ – calls of Robin, Wren, Dunnock, and a couple of warblers
***Feedback on this challenge gratefully received as a comment on this post.*** I’m going to start with the assumption that you can already recognise the songs of common garden birds. With those under your belt, adding the calls and alarm calls of frequent garden visitors is a good place to start to build your confidence. […]
Bird calls – devising a learning programme
More confidence with distinguishing between calls might take my winter and spring birding to the next level, and I’m optimistic that the ability to learn less obvious calls is something many of us could get better at if only we had a good programme to work through and some targeted learning materials. As an educator, […]
Hunting for fungi in an Inner London woodland
It’s November so it would be extremely rude not to go and look for interesting urban fungi, at least once. I’m a beginner when it comes to identifying fungi species, but I’m hoping to learn more by working on the principle of ‘start with the local’. And I’m fantastically lucky to live in a house […]
No place like home
In my November column for Bird Watching Magazine, I track down Glossy Ibis, and what stunning birds they are. I also resolve to stop looking at birds turning up near home, when I’m on holiday elsewhere.
The Urban Naturalist 