Pilewort or Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna)

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! โœจ

Ficaria verna growing on the bank of a field edge

An important nectar source for early emerging insects from hibernation, such as Queen Bumblebees ๐Ÿ

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! ๐Ÿ˜Š

Alder (Alnus glutinosa)

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 ๐Ÿงš๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ

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 ๐Ÿ˜…

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 ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ

Being a tough species of tree, their wood doesnโ€™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 โœŒ๐Ÿป

Day 19 – 30 Days Wild

Yet another wet dayโ€ฆ I was looking out of the window & saw a reasonably large Black Slug, that’s when I got the idea for todays video (below) ๐Ÿ˜‰

#30DaysWild

Thanks for visiting! ๐Ÿ’š

Day 13 – 30 Days Wild

I’m going to let the video (below) speak for itself ๐Ÿ™‚

Thanks for visiting! ๐Ÿ’š

Day 12 – 30 Days Wild

It has been great for Birdsong lately, hasn’t it? Since lockdown I have heard some great birds from the back garden ๐ŸŽถ

To be honest, I am already familiar with what song belongs to which bird ๐Ÿ™‚

In my video I’ve labelled each birdsong / call ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿป

Thanks for visiting! ๐Ÿ’š

Day 10 – 30 Days Wild

Most of the day was chilly & grey, but when there was a warm sunny spell, the Bees came out in force to feed on the Cranesbill Geraniums etc in the garden ๐Ÿ ๐Ÿ’š ๐ŸŒธ

Thanks for visiting! ๐Ÿ™‚

Day 7 – 30 Days Wild

For a couple of weeks, since the bottom part of the flowerbed was dug over, I have observed House Sparrows having sand / dust baths & I thought to myself, I must get footage of this!

My attempts failed, at first, because they either didn’t turn up or I had just missed them, or it was raining ๐Ÿ˜…

However, today I thought I would give it another go and within about 5 minutes into recording they showed up & I got footage! ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿป

I plan on getting closer & better footage very soon!

Thanks for visiting โ˜บ๏ธ

Day 5 – 30 Days Wild

After a lovely walk around my local wood & a wee heritage site, I got back to find a beautiful Butterfly basking in the sun, in the garden, & I managed get some lovely footage of it! ๐Ÿ˜Š

Gotta love Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies ๐Ÿฆ‹ ๐Ÿ’š

Thanks for visiting! ๐ŸŒธ

Day 4 – 30 Days Wild

On Monday, whilst walking passed some Foxgloves with my Mom up the Waseley Hills Country Park, I remembered that we had some seeds at the back of one of the kitchen cupboards ๐Ÿ˜‰

Digitalis purpurea – Waseley Hills Country Park
Today that’s exactly what I did! ๐Ÿ’ฎ

Thanks for visiting ๐Ÿ™‚

Day 3 – 30 Days Wild

Today I awoke to the sound of rain, so of course there was only one thing for me to do…

I also got an ID for the Spider from yesterday ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿป

It is an Araniella sp. Also known as a Cucumber Spider ๐Ÿฅ’ (Thank you Emma Woolley)

From Googling, I suspect it’s an Araniella opisthographa ๐Ÿ•ท๏ธ But you can only determine that by having it under a microscope (cheers Rory Dimond & Luke Anderson) ๐Ÿ™‚

Thanks for visiting ๐Ÿ˜Š