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A Walk on the North Downs Way, by Frances Jones
A couple of weeks ago, I walked part of the North Downs Way with a friend. Not a particularly unusual event, normally, but many of…
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Excitement in the wildlife garden
Wildlife gardening has become somewhat of an obsession of late as we attempt to make our urban ‘yarden’ as appealing as possible to all forms…
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Investigating the Prudhoe Spetchells
For a ages, I have read the blogs of others who have visited the Prudhoe Spetchells yet, shamefully, have never visited myself. Until now.
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Into the Wild Woods at Allen Banks
Spurred on by the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions, this weekend saw us venture inland to the wild reaches of Allen Banks
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The blue, the bronze and the hairy
We have been on somewhat of a quest this year to transform our little urban yard into a plot beneficial to wildlife. Planting a range…
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On the hunt for urban bees
For me, one of the few positive aspects of our current lockdown has been the opportunity to look closer at the wildlife that persists close…
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.
