A summary of a fantastic year spent watching, recording, and enjoying North East nature. often in great company.
Tag Archives: Wildlife
Weekend Botany at Walker
This weekend provided a nice opportunity for our new local botany group to visit Walker Riverside. Here’s what we encountered. Botany (and wildlife recording in general) can often be a solitary affair. For many of us, I suspect, myself included, that suits us just fine. At least most of the time. Sometimes, however, it isContinue reading “Weekend Botany at Walker”
Ladybirds along the Tyne – Elswick, Heaton, Havannah & Prudhoe
From the city carparks and cemeteries to chalk mounds at Prudhoe, it has been a fantastic fortnight for local ladybirds.
Industrial orchids in Newcastle
A quick account of a fruitful few days spend admiring orchids in Newcastle, featuring Bee Orchids, helleborines and more!
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 through woodland, and then to the boggy, birch strewn outskirts of the moor itself, the trip made for a welcome change to the norm and there was certainly a greatContinue reading “A fleeting visit to Alnwick Moor”
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? Many botanists turn their noses up at the idea of using a plant app. Indeed, this approach requires minimal skill, no field guide and really, not a single jot of traditional botanical knowledge.Continue reading “Comparing Plant ID Apps for Beginner Botanists”
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 for your valuable wildlife records. Generally, biological recording is an interconnected affair and records submitted through a chosen platform usually (but not always) find their way to where they’re needed.Continue reading “Where To Send Your Wildlife Records?”
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 small way to our understanding of nature proving to be a fulfilling way of making use of time outside. Before digging into the subject in a little more detail onContinue reading “Creating a Wildlife Record”
Recording North East nature in 2021 – ten highlights
2021 has been a funny old year but despite the big c and the various restrictions it brought, it has also been a memorable one.
The flora of Walker Riverside
Walker Riverside Park is a funny old place. Created in the 1980s, it sits atop former industrial land and boasts an intriguing mix of habitats, from grassland and woodland areas to salt-sprayed riverbanks.
The flora of Iris Brickfield Park
Iris Brickfield Park sits fairly close to our home in Heaton, Newcastle, and as such, has been a mainstay of our local walks during the pandemic. Fairly small, at least when compared to Newcastle’s other parks, and managed by Urban Green, it provides a lifeline to many people living in the local area: dog walkers, joggers,Continue reading “The flora of Iris Brickfield Park”
Wildlife at Walker Riverside
Of all of the places I regularly visit in Newcastle, Walker riverside has to be my favourite. Owing to a mix of abdanonment and neglect, it just about the most diverse local site I know of for plants and insects