On a breezy April afternoon, in the midst of John Clare Countryside, a Nightingale, hidden in the heart of a Hawthorn bush, pours out its song…
#johnclarecountryside #birds

A poster describing an exhibition of photography, artworks and treasures

Hedgerow fruit, field and forest fungi, leaves aflame in red and gold – autumn whispers its magic.

@kathrynparsons.bsky.social and I will be celebrating the season at our exhibition on 22–23 November. We’d love you to join us.

#photography #art #johnclarecountryside

Country diary: There’s a bounty of blackberries out there – 350 species of them | Sarah Lambert Swaddywell, Cambridgeshire: This common plant is surprisingly varied. Late in the season, I venture out to pick what I can

Blackberry diversity at Swaddywell NR, a wonderfully rich reserve managed by Langdyke Countryside Trust and located in John Clare's home parish of Helpston, Cambridgeshire...

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

#johnclarecountryside

Nightingale in mid-song

A fleeting glimpse of the beautiful rust-coloured tail of a Nightingale

Oak, Hazel and Bluebells

The first flowers of Wood Melick, spikes of dark chestnut against an intense yellow-green background

Favourite moments from this morning's walk at Castor Hanglands NNR- a chorus of Nightingales, cool pools of Bluebells under rugged oaks and the first flowers of Wood Melick, possibly the most elegant of woodland grasses...

#johnclarecountryside #ukwildlife #spring @bsbibotany.bsky.social

A blissful morning at Castor Hanglands NNR with nine Nightingales, singing alongside Willow Warblers, Chiffchaff, Blackcaps, Song Thrushes and my first Garden Warbler of the spring...the damp air gently perfumed with Crab Apple and Bluebells...

#ukwildlife #birds #johnclarecountryside

Female Goosander and young swimming close to a weir

Goosander and young hunting for food in a rocky part of the river

Young Goosander attempting to eat a Bullhead - quite a challenge

Mother Goosander standing guard on a shingle bank while her chicks organise themselves into two snoozy snuggles

Spent some time with our local Goosander family this afternoon, watching them ducking and diving for food, a young one attempting to eat a Bullhead and the nine offspring finally settling themselves into two snoozy snuggles while Mum stood guard...

#birds #ukwildlife #johnclarecountryside

First Dingy Skippers of the year for me - freshly emerged, with not a scale out of place. At @wildlifebcn.org Old Sulehay NR, in a recently scraped area of former limestone quarry, management supported by @savebutterflies.bsky.social

#ukwildlife #johnclarecountryside

A Beech Wood with a carpet of Wood Anemones and Bluebells

Wood Anemone, Bluebell and Lesser Celandine with the grey bark of a Beech tree behind

A raggly cluster of Wood Anemone

A Beech Wood with a carpet of Bluebells

Wood Anemones, Bluebells and Lesser Celandines carpet the floor of an ancient woodland replanted with Beech - green, blue, white and yellow co-existing in perfect harmony.

#woodlandplants #wildflowerhour #photography #johnclarecountryside

Veteran pollard oak, one of many in a local County Wildlife Site

Gnarled hollow pollard oak, isolated in a field boundary, but forming part of a larger population

A pair of veteran pollard oaks on the edge of a former field which has now been abandoned and is dominated by Wood Small-reed, with some Fallow Deer in the background

Overview of some of the veteran oaks surrounding former common land and along field boundaries

A weekend wander in #johnclarecountryside admiring some of the wonderful veteran pollard oaks that still remain - many bordering an area of former common land that John Clare knew as The Snow. Long term nature recovery plans aim to increase the area of parkland habitat locally...

#thicktrunktuesday

Flowers of Gorse

Primrose flowers

Golden flower of Lesser Celandine

Colt's-foot emerging from a new gravel bank

#YellowFlowers for #wildflowerhour.

Coconut scented Gorse on what was once Emmonsail Heath.

Primrose and Lesser Celandine lighting up woodland rides and drain banks everywhere.

Tough Colt's-foot colonising inhospitable gravel banks round a quarry.

@bsbibotany.bsky.social #johnclarecountryside

Setting sun behind Ash trees, reflected in the River Nene

Grey Wagtail on a piece of wood with a mossy stone wall in the background and fast flowing water beneath

Kestrel on a dead tree silhouetted against a golden sky

Rookery with flying birds silhouetted against a golden sky

Evening walk along the River Nene, setting sun silhouetting willows and ash.
Two Grey Wagtails busy feeding at the weir.
A solitary Kestrel surveying its territory from a dead tree.
The sociable sound of a Rookery in full swing...

#naturewriting #birds #photography #johnclarecountryside

Diaperis boleti, an oval shiny black beetle with two orange-yellow bands on its back, on willow bark

One from Bainton Heath NR in #johnclarecountryside
It's also frequent at Holme Fen NNR - plenty of Birch Polypore there!

Female Stonechat sitting at the top of a thorny twig

Male Stonechat showing off his speckled rump, sitting on a curving branch of Dog-rose

Kestrel sitting in the top of a Pedunculate Oak tree, with his feathers fluffed up against the cold.

Good to catch up with my local pair of Stonechats this afternoon, feeding in an area of developing scrub and tall grass at Ferry Meadows, while further on a perched male Kestrel was making a pair of Wrens very angry...

#ukbirds #johnclarecountryside 🪶

A green lane in autumn with hedges of Field Maple on either side, it's foliage golden yellow, and a spreading Pedunculate Oak filling the sky.

Day 17 of #artadventcalendar

A leaf-strewn grassy lane, hedged with golden Field Maples, overtopped by a magnificent, spreading open-grown Pedunculate Oak. Such trees are one of the key features of the claylands in the #johnclarecountryside

#photography #alteredimage

A magnificent mature elm tree next to a fen drain at sunset

Late for #ThickTrunkTuesday - a mature elm tree on the bank of the South Drain, which now forms the southern boundary of the former floodplain meadow known as Westings. The only significant mature elm remaining in the Peterborough District

#johnclarecountryside

Day 2 of #ArtAdventCalendar, taken in November 2022.

The fleeting moment when a shaft of late afternoon sunshine lit-up the copper-coloured leaves of Aspen growing on the bank of the River Nene west of Peterborough.

#johnclarecountryside #trees #photography

Lots to see at our exhibition this weekend! Ecoprints, photography, miniature porcelain sculptures & more - work by @sarahlambert7.bsky.social and me - inspired by the work of #LangdykeCountrysideTrust & #JohnClareCountryside.

In the cabin at Torpel Nature Reserve, Helpston, Peterborough

Fallen pine with mature fruiting slime mould (Arcyria sp.), coral-coloured resupinate fungus (Meruliopsis taxicola?) and tiny cup fungi

Tree stump with abundant Coral Slime Mould (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa) and another unidentified slime mould

Tree stump with abundant Coral Slime Mould (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa) and another unidentified slime mould

Leopard Slug

For #WildWebsWednesday, the beauty of decay found in Rice Wood, Helpston - a colourful mix of fungi, slime-moulds and algae reminiscent of undersea corals, plus a fine Leopard Slug taking advantage of this seasonal feast.

#johnclarecountryside

Well worth the chill last night to see such an awesome light show over Helpston, Rice Wood and Simon’s Wood - heard a Long-eared Owl too and shared the aurora with a local farmer who came to see if I was alright!

#Auroraborealis #JohnClareCountryside