365 Days of Botany: Week 3

It’s week three of this years exercise in botanical appreciation and, due to various commitments, plant-hunting this week has been focused entirely on urban areas. Location dictates that the species featured this week are almost entirely weeds. Or at least those that the vast majority of the population may look upon as ‘weeds’. Weed, however, […]

from James Common https://commonbynature.co.uk/2020/01/23/365-days-of-botany-week-3/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Common By Nature is going to the UK Blog Awards!

I am incredibly excited to announce that Common By Nature has made it through to the final round of the UK Blog Awards 2019! Thanks to both the public vote, and that of the judges, I now find myself in the running in not one, but two categories: Green and Eco and the new and arguably […] from James Common https://commonbynature.co.uk/2019/01/10/common-by-nature-at-the-uk-blog-awards/
Read more

Dormice and Hibernation

Image
A few weeks ago we had our quick dormice pre-hibernation checks to make sure they were all OK for the winter, and confirm how many kits we have bred over the summer. Good news!.. Both our pairs have had large litters of dormice, and so we have many babies to prepare for release next year. As part of the Common Dormouse Captive Breeders Groups (CDCBG) we, along with many other holders across the south, breed dormice as part of the studbook for release out in to the wild. Once out of hibernation next Spring they will all be collected up and released back in to the wild in collaboration with the Peoples Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). We do have two species of dormice in the UK. The native, calm, small and adorable hazel dormouse above. Below is the larger, bitey and much more erratic edible dormouse that was introduced to the UK. You can really see the size difference with both in the hand like this. Both species of dormice are entering, or have already started, to h...
Read more

2019 off to a reasonable start

Image
Overcast, 5°, light NNW. A Little Egret seen today on the way out to Lollingdon and appeared to drop down near Amwell Spring. The hill hosted around 100 Fieldfare and a flock of c50 Meadow Pipit for a time before moving off over the top. Several Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer around the hill and a single Corn Bunting . A small flock of c20 Pied Wagtail feeding out with the Sheep. A few more Fieldfare and Redwing scattered around the Lollingdon area, a Goldcrest , Grey Heron , Kestrel , a couple of Jay , 2 Bullfinch and several Starling amongst other species. A Brambling in a private garden. Per Alan Dawson. 2 Blackcap in TW’s garden and 2 Chiffchaff at CSW. The flock of c60 Golden Plover still around Cholsey Hill. Brambling (courtesy Alan Dawson) from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/01/2019-off-to-reasonable-start.html
Read more