Wood Sorrel is one of the earliest spring-flowering plants of the woodland floor, along with Wood Anenome, Bluebell and Wild Garlic and is characteristic of old woodland, forestry plantations and shaded hedgerows. It only feels at home in moist, shady areas and no other native flowering plant thrives on as little light as this speciesContinue reading “Wood Sorrel, the original Shamrock”
Category Archives: Natural history
Bumblebees and how to encourage them
Bumblebees are often confused with Honeybees but are larger, furrier, and generally black with either white, yellow or red bands across the end of their tails. There are 24 different species of bumblebees to be found in the British isles, many of which can be seen in the Northwest of England including two which I’veContinue reading “Bumblebees and how to encourage them”
The Chiffchaff
The Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita, has what is called an onomatopoeic name, meaning descriptive of its song, and its scientific name, Phylloscopus, coming from the Ancient Greek phullon, meaning ‘leaf’ and skopos, meaning ‘seeker’, aptly describes its behaviour as it hops about the trees seeking insects for its dinner. For a lot of people the arrivalContinue reading “The Chiffchaff”
The Dandelion, and why you should leave it be!
The Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale, is found all over the British isles and one of our most widespread and successful wildflowers. The first part of its scientific name, Taraxos, derives from the Ancient Greek word for ‘chaos’, and akos meaning ‘remedy’, and it is does indeed grow chaotically almost everywhere and, as will be covered laterContinue reading “The Dandelion, and why you should leave it be!”
The Black Darter
The Black darter, Sympetrum danae, our smallest native dragonfly, at about 4cm long, with a wingspan of about 5cm, is our only black species. It can be spotted skittishly darting about our moors at the moment, seemingly going from zero to a hundred and back in a split second as it strikes out to snatchContinue reading “The Black Darter”
The Violet Oil Beetle
The Violet Oil Beetle, Meloe violaceous, is an unusual looking beetle, similar, but not to be confused with the Violet Ground Beetle, quite large at about 3cm long, and as its name suggests, is a rather striking violet colour. It is an insect of strange proportions, its front end being almost ant-like, with a roundedContinue reading “The Violet Oil Beetle”
The Bilberry Bumblebee
Queen of the Mountain The Bilberry, or Mountain, Bumblebee, Bombus monticola, (bombus meaning ‘bee’, and monticola meaning ‘mountain’) is a relatively small, but gorgeous looking bumblebee with a distinctive orange/red behind making up two-thirds of its abdomen and two lemon yellow stripes on its thorax, or middle parts. The queens, workers and males all haveContinue reading “The Bilberry Bumblebee”
Walshaw Moor Windfarm, the Importance of Wide-open spaces for our Mental Wellbeing
Walshaw Moor is an area of great ecological and cultural value situated in West Yorkshire, it can be found on the map within a triangle formed by the towns of Burnley, Keighley and Todmorden and could soon be the site of the largest onshore wind farm in England with 65 turbines towering over 200m (492-657ft).Continue reading “Walshaw Moor Windfarm, the Importance of Wide-open spaces for our Mental Wellbeing”
Northwest Nature and History 