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Bird Seed Aliens in the Urban Flora
A short account of the interesting bird seed aliens found so far during excursions in Newcastle.
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Walks Through the Flora of Newcastle – Silverlink Circular
Next up in this new series sharing Newcastle’s best botanical walks, a trip to Silverlink for its fascinating mix of native plants and introductions.
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Walks Through the Flora of Newcastle – Armstrong Park to Jesmond Dene
Inspired by ongoing efforts to record the urban flora of Newcastle and North Tyneside, I wanted to make some of what has been discovered so…
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Walks Through the Flora of Newcastle – Walker Riverside
Inspired by ongoing efforts to record the urban flora of Newcastle and North Tyneside, I wanted to make some of what has been discovered so…
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Frustrating Ferns at Hareshaw Linn
A quick account of a fern-filled visit to Hareshaw Linn as part of an ongoing course with the Natural History Society of Northumbria
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Exciting Botanical Discoveries in and Around Newcastle
A round-up of several exciting recent discoveries as work to record the urban flora of Newcastle continues.
Current Fascinations
By my own admission, I am prone to falling down rabbit holes from time to time. Typically, this involves deep-diving into a particular subject and learning as much as possible before, inevitably, another topic comes along to take its place. Regardless, below you’ll find my current areas of interest…
Botanical Bits
Botany is my main interest, and whether it’s ferns, snowdrops, grasses, ancient woodland plants, or even humble pavement weeds, I try to spend as much time as possible seeking out our wild plants.
North East Botany
Here you’ll find musings on plant identification, trip reports, sightings from walks and courses and just about anything else relating to botany in North East England.
Urban Flora of Newcastle and North Tyneside
The Urban Flora of Newcastle and North Tyneside is the first comprehensive account of the wild plants growing across the Newcastle and North Tyneside conurbation, one of the largest in the UK.
Based on six years of fieldwork, the book documents more than 1,120 native and naturalised plants -around a third of Britain’s entire flora.
Meet James
Born and raised in North East England, James is a botanist, general naturalist and biological recorder with a passion for sharing the joys of North East nature with others.
He currently works as Senior Naturalist for the Natural History Society of Northumbria (NHSN) and volunteers as a vice-county recorder for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI), both of which allow him to spend ample time outdoors leading trips, courses, surveys and guided walks.
