Midlands – Canned Wildlife

Pilewort or Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna)

Mar 5, 2023Mar 5, 2023Posted in Canal, Country Park, Countryside, Encounters, Exploration, Farm, Garden, Greenbelt, Lakes, Local, Natural History, Nature Reserve, Plants, River, Walk, WoodlandTagged Adam Frost, April, BBC Countryfile, BBC Earth, BBC Gardeners' World, BBC Midlands Today, BBC Springwatch, BBC Wildlife, Botany, Bromsgrove, Bugs, Bumblebees, Butterflies, Canal, Canal Walk, Conservation, country park, Countryside, CPRE, Days Out, Encounter, Exploration, Farm, February, Flora, Garden, Gay Farmers, Gay Naturalist, Get Your Boots On, Green Belt, Green Space, Greenbelt, Horticulture, Huawei, March, Meadow, Micro Farm, Midlands, National Trust, Natural England, Natural History, Naturalist, Nature, Nature Reserve, Outdoors, Pond, Rewildling, River, RSPB, Semirural, Sir David Attenborough, Spring, Springwatch, Suburban, Suburbia, The Campaign for Rural England, The Lakes, The Wildlife Trust, Walk, Waseley Hills Country Park, Wetlands, Wild Garden, Wildflower, Wildflowers, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Wildlife Garden, Wildlife Gardening, Woodland, Woodland Trust, Worcester & Birmingham Canal, Worcestershire, World Land TrustLeave a comment

Pilewort or Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna), flowering between January and April; these lovers of damp woodland pathways, stream banks and ditches, can be found in gardens, meadows and shady hedgerows, and even Narnia, yes, Narnia! ✨

Ficaria verna growing on the bank of a field edge

An important nectar source for early emerging insects from hibernation, such as Queen Bumblebees 🐝

Lesser celandine were used to treat haemorrhoids, hence “Pilewort” and scurvy, due to being high in Vitamin C.

All in all, they are a pretty cool plant!

Thanks for reading! 😊

National Diversity Awards 2022

May 6, 2022May 6, 2022Posted in TVTagged Adam Ó Hare, Adam Canning, Adam L. Canning, Adam O'Hare, AFON, Award Nomination, Bats, BBC, BBC Countryfile, BBC Earth, BBC Gardeners' World, BBC Midlands Today, BBC Springwatch, BBC Wildlife, Bill Oddie, Birder, Birders, Birdfair, Birding, Birdwatching, Birmingham, Birmingham UK, Bromsgrove, Cadbury, Canned Wildlife, Celebrating Unity in Society, Chris Packham, Conservation, Conservationist, Conservationists, Countryfile, Creative Conservation, Dawn Chorus, DEFRA, Do Something Great, Documentary, Earth Capture, Environmental, Feeding Birds, Frankley, Frankley Beeches, Gay Birders, Green Belt, Green Birmingham, Green Space, Greenbelt, Homosexual, Horticulture, ITV News, Journalism, LGBTQ+, Longbridge, Made in Birmingham, Midlands, National Diversity Awards, Natural England, Natural History, Naturalist, New Frankley, Openly Gay, Ornithology, Outdoors, Random Acts of Wildness, Reader's Digest Magazine, Rewildling, SpringwatchLeave a comment

I’ve been nominated again.

Please vote for me here: https://www.nationaldiversityawards.co.uk/awards-2022/nominations/adam-o-hare/

Thank you x

Canned Wildlife

For my Social Media presence (especially my Instagram and Twitter), being an openly gay Broadcaster and a Nature Conservation advocate, I have been nominated for a Diversity Award as a Positive LGBTQ+ Role Model.

To vote for me / nominate me, please Click Here

Many thanks! x

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Local Natural Heritage

Sep 2, 2020Sep 3, 2020Posted in BBC, Birds, Conservation, Country Park, Countryside, Environmental, Exploration, Farm, Film, Greenbelt, Local, Natural History, Nature Reserve, Plants, TV, Video, Vlog, Walk, WoodlandTagged #MyWildLife, #WildTime, A Focus On Nature, Adam Canning, Adam O'Hare, AFON, Autumnwatch, Autumnwatch 2020, BBC Countryfile, BBC Earth, BBC Midlands Today, BBC Springwatch, BBC Wildlife, Birmingham, Birmingham UK, Bromsgrove, Campaign, Conservation, Countryfile, Countryside, COVID-19, Documentary, Earth Capture, Environment, Environmental, Frankley, Frankley Beeches, Green Belt, Green Birmingham, Green Space, Greenbelt, Landmark, Landmark Trust, Midlands, My Wild Life, National Trust, Natural England, Natural History, Nature, Nature On Screen, New Frankley, Our Plastic Feedback, Outdoors, Semirural, Springwatch, Springwatch 2020, The Campaign for Rural England, Video, Vlog, War On Plastic, West Midlands, Wild Time, Wildlife, Wildlife Filmmakers, Wildlife Vlog, WorcestershireLeave a comment

A few years ago and around May last year; I visited the Frankley Beeches woodland. I noticed it was being ill-managed and not really being cared for.

I have grown up with this remarkable wood, as my local landmark for 30 years (my entire life), and despite it looking lovely on the outside, it unfortunately is not the same on the inside!

Research concluded that it is the National Trust that haven’t been doing (their job) anything with it for years, and Bromsgrove District Council cannot have cared much either…

When I visited it last, it was in much need of restoration & conservation, within the wood there are dead & damaged trees, plus rubbish & disturbed soil from its careless visitors. The anthropogenic effect on the woodland is very much the same to this day!

I recently did a Tweet, tagging in those who it concerns and may care about the Frankley Beeches, and yesterday (01.09.2020) I visited there and made this video:

It appears there has been some removal of the added non-wild flora, which is great and I didn’t really notice any non-native invasion flora.

Today (02.09.2020) the National Trust in the Midlands got back to me on Twitter:

“…thank you for raising your concerns with us. I’m pleased to hear that you have seen a difference to the site. Unfortunately, like many places, we only have a small team who can complete essential tasks right now but we will make sure to take on your feedback when we update the conservation management plan. We did not put in place the plastic tree guards, but I have let the team at Clent Hills know that they are now littered around…”

So it’s the Clent Team who (are to blame) haven’t been doing anything for years, until fairly recently 🤔 I am pleased they finally replied to me, as a few years ago, I emailed them and was ignored!

Sorry to hear of their small team, thus causing neglect and negative knock-on effects to much cherished places…

💚 Thanks for visiting x