It certainly feels like autumn today even if the leaves haven’t really turned yet. In a few weeks I expect social media channels will be wallpapered with photos of autumn trees and vibrant fungi. In the meantime, there is autumn colour to be found today in an unexpected place. A Smooth Sowthistle plant on our […]
I was delighted to have the opportunity to write for the Gazette which is one of the many benefits of SLBI membership (more info here). It’s a great organisation and I’m sure the article will lead to helpful advice, support and botanical camaraderie. Here’s the article.
There are few plants in flower in the woods this morning apart from Ivy. I find some Wood Sedge alongside the rail bed which still have fruits so spend a bit of time getting some clearer photos than I’ve managed earlier in the year. I wander down the railway track to the old tunnel mouth […]
My summer of citizen science nature projects and why I think all nature lovers should get involved…
Each year it feels like the oaks are slow to get growing but then everything speeds up. Leaf growth, herbivores, predation all ramp up throughout the growing season until by the start of September the leaves are looking tired and in some cases well galled. These Cherry Galls, the work of a wasp Cynips quercusfolii, […]
The scramble of Traveller’s Joy, Brambles and Hop plants is getting a bit out of hand. In the chill air after a downpour I stay a while to remember the things I’ve seen in this clearing this year so far in a wave of nostalgia. I’ve been keeping an eye out for some Hop flowers […]
I’m not sure what it is that makes me look up from the laptop and out the front window but when I do I see a blurry movement which immediately catches my attention. There’s something pinging around out there around the frothy Red Valerian flower spikes. A sprite like this one has visited us at […]
In the past I’ve come across the cabbage-sized leaves of Greater or Lesser Burdock each spring and had a complete blank about what they are. It hasn’t helped that this is a biennial plant which grows just a leaf rosette the first year and then flowers the second year. Next year is going to be […]
It’s the final day of the Big Butterfly Count. I haven’t been involved with citizen science projects before as they always sounded like hard work but it’s quite extraordinary how relaxing it has been contributing to this one. The task is to simply notice and record butterflies and moths for 15 minutes, so much like […]
Early morning and we eat breakfast part-hidden by Wild Carrot and Field Scabious on Saltbox Hill where Darwin reportedly walked and picnicked too. Like a number of other botanists I know of, I’m mesmerised by the beauty of the central red flower or umbellet on many Wild Carrot flowering heads, This year I’ve been photographing […]
The Urban Naturalist 