The Heath Spotted-Orchid

The Heath Spotted-Orchid, Dactylorhiza maculata, is one of the most common orchids in the British isles and one of our prettiest upland meadow-flowers. They can be found from May through to August, and grow on damp grasslands, heaths and moors, preferring acidic soils. Like many orchids, the Heath Spotted-Orchid can be variable in colour, but

Bee Boles

Bee holes are essentially holes built into a south-facing wall for placing bee-hives into, they usually date from before the 19th century, when modern, wooden bee-hives were made commercially available. Normally built into dry-stone walls but occasionally designed into brick walls, bee boles are almost always situated in a south-facing wall and usually accompanied a

The Hawthorn

The Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, also known as Quickthorn, Whitethorn, or the May tree, is one of the most common small trees, (or large shrubs, depending on how you look at it), to be found in the British isles. Their scientific name comes from the Greek word for ‘strength’; Crataegus, and monogyna comes from mono, meaning

Bird’s Foot Trefoil

Bird’s foot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus, (corniculatus coming from the Latin for ‘with small horns’), is a common flowering plant throughout the British isles that has accumulated quite a collection of common names; ‘crow’s toes’, lady’s slippers’, ‘hen and chickens’ and ‘bacon and eggs’ being just a few that are still in regular use, most of

The Green Hairstreak

As some of you might know I’m on Twitter quite a lot, mainly following other people who post about nature and history here in the north of England. Today I saw the following video of a kaleidoscope of Green Hairstreak butterflies filmed by Dinesh Patel (@lancsgp) and was inspired to write about this beautiful species,

The Globeflower

The Globeflower, Trollius europaeus, Trollius coming from the German  Trollblume, meaning ‘round flower’, is a large member of the buttercup family and flowers from May to July, producing lemon- coloured, round-shaped flowers around 4cm in diameter on top of tall, slender stems. It grows in damp soils such as can be found in meadows and along

Northwest Recipes; Dandelion Syrup

Recently I published an article about Dandelions, in which we looked at the roles this wildflower plays in nature and its general, all-round usefulness. Included in the article were several of the plant’s medicinal and culinary uses and a promise to publish a recipe for Dandelion Syrup, here it is! Dandelion Syrup This is a

The Hebrew Character Moth, and a few notes about moth migration

Appearance The Hebrew Character, Orthosia gothica, is a member of the Noctuidae family and named after the prominent mark on each of its wings which resembles the character ‘nun’ in the Hebrew alphabet or the form of a gothic arch (hence the scientific name gothica). It is a medium sized moth about 3.5cm long with

Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team

This year marks the 61st anniversary of the Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team which was created in April 1962 after a tragic incident near Beacon Fell on the 25th of March 1962. The incident, which involved 3 siblings who had been out for a walk on the fells in inclement weather, sadly ended in two

The Comma

The Comma, Polygonia c-album, named after the comma shaped mark on its white underwings, is a very striking butterfly in appearance and can be found in large numbers at the right time of year on its favourite plants. They are orange and black with ragged looking wings which break up their outline and make them