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Recording North East ladybirds: twenty-six species and counting
Inspired by the Natural History Society of Northumbria’s North East Ladybird Spot and the #LadybirdYearList challenge launched on Twitter by Andrew Jewels, this year I’ve…
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A fleeting visit to Alnwick Moor
Hankering for a trip into the uplands, last Saturday, Matt and I set off for Alnwick Moor in North Northumberland. Walking West from Alnwick first…
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Spring Botany at Allen Banks
With my Natural History Society of Northumbria hat on, yesterday I had the pleasure of leading a small group of students from Newcastle University to…
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Comparing Plant ID Apps for Beginner Botanists
With so many plant apps out there to choose from, just where do you turn when trying to identify a troublesome plant? Update: since the…
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Where To Send Your Wildlife Records?
As I mentioned previously, biological recording is a bit of a minefield and there are plenty of organisations, groups, societies and schemes out there vying…
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Creating a Wildlife Record
Wildlife recording is quickly becoming a main passion of mine. The process of searching out interesting species, making notes, creating records and contributing in some…
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.
