This weekend (29th & 30th January) sees the the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch.  You can sign up here to take part. What is needed ? an hour of your time a pen or pencil some paper or a print out of the RSPB's bird ID sheet a place to observe (garden / local park) Read more...

The native community of the U.K. is limited when compared to continental Europe.  The last Ice Age saw vast, thick glaciers covering much of Scotland and the Lake District, and all parts of the U.K. experienced a deep and long lasting arctic climate.    Plants and animals could only repopulate the land as and when the glaciers retreated and the climate improved. Such movement was possible whilst the U.K. was still connected to Europe (Doggerland see the blog on “Our Changing Flora” ).  However, about 9500 BC, a giant flood broke through the ‘rock dam’ in the region of the Straits of Dover.  The flood washed away billions of tons of material creating the English Channel and separating the U.K. from Europe. Read more...

Knowlands Wood at Barcombe is a hornbeam coppice with a lot of oak, both coppice and standards. When we acquired the wood some thirty years ago, it was mostly dark and relatively lifeless, having remained largely untouched since 1945.  A retired forester volunteered to start coppicing and we started to sell logs locally.   Within a year, I saw my first White Admiral. The following July my brother, who wanted to see his first also, complained that it was the commonest species of butterfly in the wood. Read more...

BTCV is a social enterprise group and charitable organisation that enables people to make a difference to their lives and to improve the places around them. They have the largest team of environmental volunteers in the country and have assisted at 50,000 sites across the UK. With 50 years worth of experience for engaging, reaching and inspiring volunteers and their communities, they are the confident pioneers of creating environmental capital. Read more...

Medlars are a much under-appreciated fruit.  We recently picked a large bag of medlars which would otherwise have gone to waste and decided to make medlar cheese.  The first thing, to make them edible, is it to leave them to go soft and squishy - the medlars will change from a yellowy colour to a dark brown - this is called bletting and is essential to any medlar processing. Read more...