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Banstead Botany Blog: A long time in anger

http://bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-long-time-in-anger.html

Tuesday, 10 June 2014. A long time in anger. It is two and a half years since I posted anything here (should remove blog from title). This is not because I have not been out and about, not because I have had nothing to say but because each time I sat down to write a new entry I became angry! I know I have. I have reached the age where grumpy is an apt if inadequate description. I know there are people out there much more capable than me to do this but who cares. I apologise in advance to anyone fed up wi...

bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com

Banstead Botany Blog: What we have lost, I - House Martins

http://bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-we-have-lost-i-house-martins.html

Tuesday, 10 June 2014. What we have lost, I - House Martins. Alas no more, the number of nests dwindled over our first ten years here until one spring none appeared, a sad year (around 1992). I also witnessed a similar pattern around my parents home in south London. Apparently this was a reflection of a much wider decline across much of northern and central Europe since the 70s. Obviously one wondered why! Of course you have to then address the disappearance of insects: climate change or farming practice?

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Banstead Botany Blog: Gladdon

http://bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/gladdon.html

Thursday, 26 June 2014. A break from rants for a picture of one of my favourite British wildflowers, Gladdon ( Iris foetidissima,. Also known as Wild Iris or Stinking Iris). Unlike may of its garden cousins the flowers have such subtle colours, a real beauty. 24 July 2014 at 23:34. I look forward to speaking with you! 9 October 2014 at 20:14. I live and work in Banstead. Banstead is busy city. I am working as Man With Van in Banstead. I am hard working and help with loading and unloading too. Removal Van...

bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com

Banstead Botany Blog: What makes me angry, I - Beans!

http://bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-makes-me-angry-i-beans.html

Wednesday, 25 June 2014. What makes me angry, I - Beans! Not beans as in food but their cultivation, at least in the Banstead area which I suspect is pretty representative of most farms elsewhere. Of course the response is that we need our farmers to be as efficient as possible in order to produce cheap food for the supermarket or for cattle feed. I suspect that the majority of the population would agree, again something that saddens me but then I am biased. A couple of weeks ago the BBC ran this story.

bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com

Banstead Botany Blog: Farmland birds in decline!

http://bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/farmland-birds-in-decline.html

Thursday, 1 December 2011. Farmland birds in decline! Shock, horror, can't think why! Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). Farmland birds in decline! Orchids of Britain and Europe. Blogs you might like. Plants of Skye, Raasay and The Small Isles. North Downs and beyond. The (un)naming of parts. Orchis purpurea in the Abruzzo mountains. For Immediate Release - 'Super' Ghost Orchid at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is in full bloom. Ελληνικη φυση - Greek Nature. Drosera salina - Saltlake Sundew.

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Banstead Botany Blog: September 2011

http://bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html

Tuesday, 20 September 2011. Harvest time in Banstead. Tis the "season of mellow fruitfulness" * in north Surrey. And time for my irregular farming rant! A season we associate with the golden browns of sun-ripened crops! On Canon’s Farm, to the south of Banstead, the cereal crop was harvested quite a while ago but now it is the turn of the largest crop this year, Flax. Back in April the fields were prepared for sowing in the traditional way (! As a townie I know little of good agricultural practice and no...

bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com

Banstead Botany Blog: May 2011

http://bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html

Tuesday, 31 May 2011. Work and holidays means I have not had much time to get out and about locally recently and so not had anything to write about. However that changed yesterday whilst gardening when I happened to spot this little aphid on a leaf! I think it is the craziest thing I have seen in years. So: is there anyone out there who knows what it is? If not I will have to post it on the Natural History site, perhaps I'll do that anyway. I did and it is. Subscribe to: Posts (Atom). Blogs you might like.

bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com

Banstead Botany Blog: Harvest time in Banstead

http://bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/harvest-time-in-banstead.html

Tuesday, 20 September 2011. Harvest time in Banstead. Tis the "season of mellow fruitfulness" * in north Surrey. And time for my irregular farming rant! A season we associate with the golden browns of sun-ripened crops! On Canon’s Farm, to the south of Banstead, the cereal crop was harvested quite a while ago but now it is the turn of the largest crop this year, Flax. Back in April the fields were prepared for sowing in the traditional way (! As a townie I know little of good agricultural practice and no...

bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com

Banstead Botany Blog: Clathrus ruber - science fiction?

http://bansteadbotanyblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/clathrus-ruber-science-fiction.html

Saturday, 8 October 2011. Clathrus ruber - science fiction? Sometimes the natural world throws up sometime totally off the wall and I think that this is the case with Clathrus ruber. A fungus related to the more "normal" Stinkhorns although it bears no similarity in appearance to them. More like a mockup of a brightly-coloured geodesic dome for use in Dr Who! Like Stinkhorns it has a fetid smell and attracts flies as confirmed by the second picture. 12 October 2011 at 12:02. 9 November 2011 at 12:35.