Standing up for Nature
The feature that gives this fungus its name is both a godsend and a pain in the neck. The mass of spines on the underside, instead of the more usual gills or pores, make this otherwise rather nondescript species virtually impossible to confuse with anything else. So, if you are relatively new to foraging and…
Last week I was thinking a bit about climate change and birds and thought I’d had a good idea. And I had had a good idea – it’s just that others had had it too and published a paper on it two years ago! The good idea was to look at the ‘envisaged potential’ bird…
The focus on climate change in the SUKB report published today is a very useful stock-check. It has prompted me to go back and look at one of my ‘favourite’ books, published 10 years ago, A Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds by Rhys Green of the RSPB and Brian Huntley, Yvonne Collingham and Stephen…
The distribution, numbers and behaviour of birds in the UK are changing because of a changing climate according to a new report. The State of the UK’s Birds 2017 (SUKB) – the one-stop shop for all the latest results from bird surveys and monitoring studies – this year highlights how many of the UK’s species are already…
There are a few different puffball species, ranging in size from the small, spiny, Common Puffball (the one in the photo) and its close relatives, to the altogether more impressive and aptly-named Giant Puffball. The stalks are often mostly hidden underground, though, as here, they can extend to several centimetres. The good news is that…
That’s useful books used by me (not written by me) just in case that wasn’t obvious. These are a few of the books I refer to most often or have found especially inspiring. Mainly they are about the essential business of identification but they also describe how to go about tracking down edible species and…
I’ll admit to being more than a little surprised the first time one of these two species emerged from the sea when I was Mackerel fishing. Both are members of the cod family and they are often confused with each other. As with many apparently tricky species pairs, as soon as a direct, side by…
For a small, low growing and rather unassuming plant, Hairy Bittercress has quite a bit going for it. It has the welcome habit of bringing wild food right to your back door as it often grows as a garden weed, springing up in flower pots, the gaps between paving slabs or around the edges of…
This is not a native tree but it has been established in Britain for around 2,000 years and the nuts have long been exploited by humans. They only ripen well in some years and, even then, only on a sub-set of the mature trees. Climate change may help as the tree is native to warmer…
One of the most fascinating aspects of wild fungi is the huge diversity of different substances they contain and the alarmingly varied effects of their consumption. This is well illustrated by this pair of very similar species in the notorious Amanita group. One will provide you with an excellent meal, the other may well…