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The Joys of Migration
After weeks of measured gains and stop-start bouts of action, it finally feels like migration has reached its peak here in Northumberland. With this week…
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Doing my bit for Curlew conservation
The haunting call of the Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) is one of the most iconic, and indeed, enjoyable sounds in nature. The rippling trill of…
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The floodgates are opening, at last
Migration really is a wonderful thing: one minute you can be gazing forlornly at a decrepit stand of brambles, hoping against hope to hear the…
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Walking the coast road
Monday saw me embarking on a lengthy 10-mile stroll along my favourite stretch of coastline. A rare free day allowing for a leisurely saunter between…
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Winter’s Gibbet
Winter’s Gibbet, a decrepit relic of a bygone age when the public display of corpses was deemed acceptable, is a rather eerie place to visit.…
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Meandering through the Northumbrian Spring
The weather of late has been typically fluid; the last week alone finding me battered by gale force winds, soaked by Spring rains and, occasionally,…
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.
