Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust – 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! 😊

Alder (Alnus glutinosa)

Mar 2, 2023Mar 3, 2023Posted in Birds, Canal, Countryside, Exploration, Garden, Greenbelt, Insects, Lakes, Local, Natural History, Plants, Walk, WoodlandTagged A Bugs Life, Action For Insects, Alder, April, BBC Countryfile, BBC Springwatch, BBC Wildlife, Botany, Canal, Canal Walk, CPRE, Days Out, February, Flora, Gay Naturalist, March, Natural History, Nature, Park, Rewildling, River, RSPB, Springwatch, Suburban, The Wildlife Trust, Tree Hugging, Trees, Walk, Wetlands, Wildflowers, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Wildlife Gardening, Wildlife TV Presenter, Woodland, Woodland TrustLeave a comment

Dwelling in moist places; Alder grow near rivers, ponds, lakes and in wet, swampy woods, also known as Carrs.

Their flowers were used as green dye, to colour and camouflage the clothes of outlaws, like Robin Hood and to also colour the clothes of fairies 🧚🏻‍♂️

Flowering between February and April, Alder catkins provide an early source of nectar and pollen for Bees, and the seeds are eaten by Goldfinches, Siskins and Redpolls.

The pale wood turns a deep orange after being cut, giving the impression of bleeding. So, in the past, many people feared them and the Irish thought it was unlucky to pass one on a journey 😅

The roots have nitrogen-fixing nodules, conditioning the soil and improving soil fertility on former industrial wasteland and brownfield sites.

Alder leaf beetles (Agelastica alni) feed on the leaves of alder trees. They’ve become common in parts of England and Wales since 2004.

It was said that a few Alder leaves placed in the shoes before a long journey would cool the feet and prevent swelling 🤷🏻‍♂️

Being a tough species of tree, their wood doesn’t rot when waterlogged, instead it makes them harder and stronger. Plus, mature trees can reach a height of approximately 28 metres and live to around 60 years.

Thanks for reading ✌🏻

Day 18 – 30 Days Wild

Jun 18, 2020Jun 18, 2020Posted in Birds, Canal, Challenge, Conservation, Environmental, Film, Greenbelt, Local, Natural History, Nature Reserve, River, TV, Video, Vlog, WalkTagged #30DaysWild, #MyWildLife, #NowForNature, #TheTimeIsNow, #WilderFuture, #WildTime, 30 Days Wild, A Focus On Nature, Adam Canning, Adam O'Hare, AFON, BBC Countryfile, BBC Earth, BBC Midlands Today, BBC Wildlife, Birdsong, Birmingham, Challenge, Conservation, Conservationists, Countryfile, CPRE, Days Out, DEFRA, Earth Capture, Environment, Environmental, Film, Frankley, Gay Birders, Get Your Boots On, Green Belt, Green Birmingham, Green Space, Greenbelt, Huawei, June, Made in Birmingham, My Wild Life, National Trust, Natural England, Natural History, Nature, Nature On Screen, Nature Reserve, New Frankley, Now for Nature, Ornithology, Outdoors, Random Acts of Wildness, Rewildling, River, River Rea, RSPB, Semirural, Spring, Springwatch, Suburban, Suburbia, The Campaign for Rural England, The Conservation Volunteers, The Countryside Charity, The Wildlife Trust, Video, Vlog, West Midlands, Wetlands, Wild June, Wild Time, Wilder Future, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Wildlife, Wildlife Filmmakers, Wildlife Trusts, Wildlife VlogLeave a comment

At the end of May I became an Ambassador for The Rivers Trust, so I decided to go sit next to a stretch of the River Rea, on the edge of Gannow Wood.

Thanks for visiting! 🏞️

Common Kingfisher on an Urban River

Jan 11, 2019May 24, 2020Posted in Birds, Encounters, River, VideoTagged Adam Canning, Adam L. Canning, Birding, Birds, BTO, Countrylife, Earth Capture, Encounter, James Burman, Kingfisher, Leicestershire, Market Harborough, Natural History, Nature, Ornithology, Outdoors, River Wellend, RSPB, The Wildlife Trust, Urban, Video, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Wildlife, Wildlife Trusts, Winter, WinterwatchLeave a comment

On Tuesday I got up somewhat early, to arrive in Leicestershire for sunrise, where I met up with my friend James Burman. We planned to have a full day to locate, observe and film (or photograph in James’s case) his local Kingfishers, which frequent a river in the middle of a fairly busy town.

This is what I managed to get ⬇️

Thanks 🙂

The Wild Side: WWT Welney

Nov 17, 2018May 24, 2020Posted in Birds, Conservation, Encounters, Nature Reserve, VideoTagged Adam Canning, Adam L. Canning, BBC Wildlife, Bewick's Swan, Countryfile, Documentary, Earth on Location, Film, Flight of the Swans, Floodlit Feed, Journalism, Migration, Nature, Norfolk, Ouse Washes, Sacha Dench, Wetlands, Whooper Swan, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Winter, Winter Migrants, Winter Migration, Wintering, Winterwatch, Wisbech, WWT WelneyLeave a comment

Two years ago my friend Jamie Wyver and I visited the wonderful Welney Wetland Centre, near Wisbech in the east of England (Norfolk). We were there filming for episode five of our TV series, The Wild Side, which was commissioned and broadcast by Cambridge TV (now called That’s Cambridge). The main subject of course, was the beautiful Bewick’s and Whooper Swans, as they migrate there each year in their thousands from Artic Russia and Iceland. You’ll see in the last part of the episode (below), I was given the amazing opportunity to perform a floodlit feed!

For more episodes of The Wild Side click here.

Thanks 😀

Upton Warren: Eurasian Curlew

Mar 7, 2018May 24, 2020Posted in Birds, Conservation, Countryside, Farm, Nature Reserve, Video, VlogTagged Adam Canning, Adam L. Canning, Autumn, Autumnwatch, Birding, Conservation, Eurasian Curlew, Film, Natural History, Nature, Nature Reserve, Ornithology, RSPB, The Wildlife Trust, Upton Warren, Video, Vlog, Wetlands, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Wildlife Trusts, Worcestershire1 Comment

The now classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, UK Amber and Red List species under the Birds of Conservation Concern review and as a Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, Eurasian Curlew are still holding on at Upton Warren in the landlocked county of Worcestershire in the West Midlands region, and they can be seen throughout autumn and winter, roosting at The Flashes most evenings.

For waders they’re large and tall, approx the size of female a Pheasant – making them the largest European wading bird. Their haunting call (‘Cur-lee’) is unmistakable – it’s one of my favourite bird calls – it can be heard from February through to July on its breeding grounds; wet grasslands, farmland, heath and moorlands. From July onwards coastal numbers start to build up and peak in January.

Curlews feed on worms, shrimps and shellfish. The largest concentrations of them are found at Morecambe Bay, the Solway Firth, the Wash and the Dee, plus, the Severn, Humber and Thames estuaries. Their greatest breeding numbers are found in north Wales, the Pennines, the southern uplands and east Highlands of Scotland and the Northern Isles.

The agricultural intensification (e.g drainage and reseeding) of upland farmland and moorland – plus the afforestation of moorland – is a big factor in the decline of their breeding population.

Thanks for visiting 🙂

About Me

Sep 9, 2017Sep 10, 2017Posted in UncategorizedTagged A Focus On Nature, Adam Canning, BBC Gardeners' World, BBC Midlands Today, BBC Wildlife, Birding, Birds, Birmingham, Bromsgrove, Conservation, Countryside, Documentary, Frankley Beeches, My Wild Life, National Trust, Natural History, Reader's Digest Magazine, RSPB, The Wild Side, The Wildlife Trust, West Midlands, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Wildlife, Wildlife TV Presenter, Worcestershire

Just a (very) short one, to say: Finally! I have an ‘About Me‘ page! 😀 I’ve decided I will be gradually turning my WordPress into my website, so it becomes more than just a blog!

In the past I used Webs, I believe my website there was looking ‘dated’ and I no longer do anything branded Nature On Screen – so I stopped using that site. Eventually Canned Wildlife will look great!

Thanks for visiting. 🙂