There was a lovely piece in the ITV lunchtime news about a blackbird that imitates police sirens. It sounded quite reealistic. I thought that it was going to turn out to be a starling but it was a blackbird.
30 years too late for me, but -
West country is doing well recently in âhelping outâ.
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(Iâm dividing GB into 4 parts for this location)
Taking from the wild. Discuss . ( in style of OU exam question)
Good for them. It is very odd that you could win a flower show by displaying a particularly fine specimen you had taken from the wild.
Frontiers in Bee Science.
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Planting 20,000 violets is easier than doing something about âglobal heating, which pushed colonies north and west in search of cooler climes, wetland drainage, which shrank habitats, and changing management techniques that allowed rushes to push out marsh violets,â
Iâd like to know how planting violets will help snipe, curlew and devils-bit scabious.
Ask the National Trust?
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And what about the 32 species of rushes and wood-rushes found in Britain" which have taken the opportunity to expand? Is there no-one rooting (ha ha) for them?
Perhaps slightly off topic but similar is the mass removal of ash trees. I was at a reserve yesterday where the ground flora has changed considerably as the ash trees have died and been removed (or left in piles). This is happening extensively in woodland across UK and I wonder if it will let some of the plant species escape the massive overgrazing that is happening in most woods caused by deer. i.e the trees fall and make gaps for plants to grow partly protected by dead branches so at least some of them escape the deer. When I say plants I mean both the ground flora and the tree seedlings.
I heard from a different source at the weekend about the damage that deer are doing. They have few natural predators. Reintroducing wolves is problematic. Deer culls would not be popular (though I believe it is done in places).
Killing Bambis ⌠as you say, not generally popular.
Why havenât we heard about this???
Be Nice to Nettles Week
This is observed each year from May 14 to 25 in the United Kingdom. This week recognises the humble weedâs critical role in preserving wildlife.
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Still time to post one on iSpot.
Should we be Nice to Asian Hornets too?
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The Times today has a âgood news storyâ about the rewilding of Romania, through the introduction of European bison.
i have here
Saxifraga rosacea subsp. rosacea
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I was watching âBargain Huntâ on BBC1 at lunch time today (I know⌠). When they suddenly did a âfillerâ about a woman who collected sea-weed samples. It all went by rather quickly but apparently she discovered several new species but wasnât allowed to write them up as that was menâs work. But she is remembered in the scientific name of a genus. I didnât really take much in but there were some lovely examples of her âfindsâ pressed into books. I sort of assume that she was Victorian. I though Iâd mention it as I know that some of you littorall types are interested in such things and might like to follow it up.
I havenât found the woman you refer to, but a couple of articles on female phycologists
The Women Who Found Liberation in Seaweed - Nautilus
How the âFirst Lady of Seaweedâ Changed Science - Atlas Obscura
Botany was considered a suitable field of study for Victorian woman, and according to the first of the above links, phycology even more so.