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Top 10 Facts: Mallard
High-flyer. The humble Mallard has been recorded flying at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour – slightly faster than the average speed of…
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Half-Penny: how things have changed
To those familiar with this blog, you will know that I owe my passion for nature almost entirely to my Grandmother. The lady who first…
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New Nature issue 10!
October is an exciting time in the naturalist’s calendar: a period of conspicuous and adrenaline pumping change as leaves redden, red deer roar and myriad…
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The country hawk and the city hawk
In a groundbreaking study on sparrowhawks, scientists have found that city birds in Scotland are more successful than their country cousins. In this study, researchers from…
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Half-Penny: signs of the seasons
Traversing the sunny (yet surprisingly cold) depths of Half-Penny this morning, one thing struck me above all else: the bounty of Autumnal fruit. This year,…
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Interviewed, How Now Magazine
Recently I had the distinct pleasure of chatting to Bel Jacobs, the lead editor of How Now Magazine – a webzine focused on highlighting human…
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.
