The Cornish endemic Western Ramping-fumitory (Fumaria occidentalis) is my contribution to this week's #wildflowerhour. This colony is probably the best known in the country, having grown on a car park edge on the Lizard for decades!
Ooo the shieldbug is definitely another good excuse to return!
The stunning vivid purple flowers of Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) in the early morning sun are hard to beat! These were my first, but it might have to become an annual pilgrimage for me. #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social
Hi Alexander, do you know whether it's possible to extend the season of when a species is considered sensitive. Slavonian Grebes turn up at breeding sites in March in the Highlands but I think are only classed as sensitive from April. Several potentially vulnerable sites show up on eBird...
Thanks for the heads up Tim, I've just been to admire them.
While Mibora minima (Early Sand-grass) is usually at home on coastal sand dunes, this species has recently colonised the lawns of an estate in Thetford - where it has become locally dominant in places! #wildflowerhour
Anyone who knows me well will be aware that my favourite plant family are sedges, so I was particularly pleased to encounter Carex ericetorum (Rare Spring-sedge) for the first time on Tuesday! The Brecks is a stronghold for this scarce sedge of short, calcareous grasslands. @bsbibotany.bsky.social
Hi Nicholas, if you follow me back I think Bluesky will allow me to message you with the details.
It's not an easy one to cross paths with - I think I've only seen it once in nearly three years of living in Cornwall!
Thank you!
Perfoliate Penny-cress (Microthlaspi perfoliatum) was also a real treat to see on my way back home yesterday. Hundreds of plants adorned a few sections of this fairly unassuming Cotswold dry stone wall. @bsbibotany.bsky.social
A stop at Brean Down in Somerset was very productive, with its unique assemblage on the S-facing limestone slopes. White Rock-rose, Dwarf Sedge & Dwarf Mouse-ear were in fine form already, while Somerset Hair-grass and Goldilocks Aster (far out of reach) were vegetative only @bsbibotany.bsky.social
I thought I'd check in on Sand Crocus (Romulea columnae) at their sole Cornish site (rediscovered in 2002) and was astounded to find hundreds in flower already! I counted at least 564 flowers over two outcrops. @bsbibotany.bsky.social
Thank you! Not sure I can add alt texts retrospectively but they're in the same order as mentioned in the post (second and third photo are the same species).
A few early-flowering species for #wildflowerhour- Gagea bohemica (Radnor Lily), Draba aizoides (Yellow Whitlowgrass) and Hornungia petraea (Hutchinsia).
Come down to Cornwall, we have plenty (and better pasties than neighbouring counties😉)! I first saw it in an ornamental maze - not the first place I would have looked for it!
Always a joy to spend time birding around Norfolk with friends. 145 spp over 6 days with many highlights and many geese!
Kite and Snipe 📸 @lukestoppard.bsky.social
Don't think I'll ever beat these views of Jack Snipe! Seen just a few miles from home this evening.
Unfortunately by the end of August it was time to head back South, so I took a bit of a detour to see a few of my remaining targets for the year - Scottish Dock (Rumex aquaticus) and Eight-stamened Waterwort (Elatine hydropiper) - and with that my bumper botanical year was over!
It felt right to save Ben Nevis for my final hill walk during my year in Scotland, so in late August I headed to the summit via the Ledge Route seeing Tufted and Highland Saxifrages (Saxifraga cespitosa and rivuralis), and Wavy Meadow-grass (Poa flexuosa) on my way to the summit.
After a ferry to Mallaig, stops at two sites for Saltmarsh Sedge (Carex salina) were successful but only in finding vegetative plants, and at Loch Arkaig I found a few spikes of Irish Lady's-tresses (Spiranthes romanzoffiana).
Putting up with the crowds at the Old Man of Storr was well worth it when I reached the summit of The Storr, where Iceland-purslane (Koenigia islandica) was abundant in the gravelly flushes and I found a new population of Alpine Pearlwort on nearby ledges (Sagina saginoides)!
By the start of August I was running out of time before moving back South and new plants to see, so my final multi-day trip of the year led me to Skye, with a mix of species of day one including Alpine Rock-cress (Arabis alpina), Pipewort (Eriocaulon aquaticum) and Early Orache (Atriplex praecox).
On my fifth and final day of the trip I only had time for one stop after my FISC exam in Banchory - a visit to some nearby flushes timed perfectly for flowering Marsh Saxifrage (Saxifraga hirculus).
My final hill day of the trip was spent around Little Kilrannoch finding Alpine Catchfly (Silene suecica), Scottish Mouse-ear (Cerastium fontanum subsp. scoticum), vast cushions of Cyphel (Cherleria sedoides) and a potentially native population of Silver Lady's-mantle (Alchemilla conjuncta).
Best of all was the abundance of montane willow scrub, comprising mainly Downy and Woolly Willow (Salix lapponum and Salix lanata). Corrie Sharroch undoubtedly represents one of the best examples of this habitat in the UK, and shows what could be possible elsewhere with better management.
Moving onto Corrie Sharroch was a sedge-lover's paradise: Close-headed Alpine-sedge (Carex norvegica), Carex atrata (Black Alpine-sedge), Mountain Bladder-sedge (Carex x grahamii) and Sheathed Sedge (Carex vaginata) were found in various flushes.
Day three begun in the marvellous Corrie Fee and its botanical gems such as Oblong Woodsia (Woodsia ilvensis), Yellow Oxytropis (Oxytropis campestris) and Purple Colt's-foot (Homogyne alpina).
For day two I headed to Glen Shee, finding Nordic Moonwort (Botrychium nordicum) by the ski centre, Alpine Blue-sow-thistle (Cicerbita alpina) on its ledge and a population of Alpine Milk-vetch (Astragalus alpinus) that had escaped a fire by a few metres!
It was soon time for another 5 day botany trip, with day one spent looking at goodies such as Blue Heath (Phyllodoce caerulea), Slender-leaved Pondweed (Stuckenia filiformis) and False-sedge (Carex simpliciuscula).