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A Disgraceful Decision by Natural England
This week, in an incomprehensible show of ignorance, Natural England granted a licence for a Northumbrian gamekeeper to lethally control “up to 10 Buzzards” to protect…
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#VisionForNature: A Groundbreaking Call For Change
This week, to widespread applause, ‘A Focus on Nature’ published their phenomenal #VisionForNature report. A document like no other – one in which a plethora…
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How YOU can help the environment post Brexit.
Dr Rob Sheldon recently published an excellent blog post on what average joes like you, and me, can do to safeguard the environment post-Brexit. The…
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Personal Update
As many of you will know, I have been rather busy of late undertaking another field season in the Scottish Highlands. Due to this, my…
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Flaviu – An Inadvertent Pioneer?
Almost a fortnight past, Dartmoor Zoo was the location of a daring escape. One centred on Flaviu, a male Carpathian Lynx, and his successful break…
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An Amateur Look at Otter Diet
In keeping with adaptation and evolution fish dominate the diet of L.lutra within freshwater ecosystems, though some localised populations occasionally differ from this trend (Webb, 1975;…
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.
