David Harris

Oh dear! They looked pretty savage - at least you recovered your glasses 🙂

Oh no!
I hope you don't end up in the brambles!

Good advice 😅
It was perfectly dry when I visited last Thursday, but still very little grip!

Thanks Rebecca.
They're quite a tricky shot on such a steep, slippery slope!

I took a day off earlier this week to go and see the Giant orchids near Oxford.
A few more years / centuries before they're considered naturalised, I guess!
Great to see them, whatever their origin.
#WildflowerHour
@ukorchids.bsky.social
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social
@bsbibotany.bsky.social

Cherry Plum, Blackthorn and Apple are all in blossom in and around Cambridge, but the real #SignsofSpring are that I got Clockwork (my fair weather bike) out of hibernation, and serviced it ready for summer botanising 🙂
#WildflowerHour

Whether it’s a first Lesser Celandine flower of the year or Elder leaves unfurling. The first #WildflowerHour challenge of the year is to spot #SignsOfSpring! Share your finds this Sunday 8-9pm. Below is the link if you would like to record your #NaturesCalendar sightings ⬇️ @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Top left to right... Red Dead-nettle, Primrose, Daisy, Field Forget-me-not, Winter Aconite, Small nettle, Cowslip, Field Speedwell; Shepherd's Purse, Lesser Celandine, Sweet Violet var. Sulphurea, Dandelion, naturalised Glory of the Snow, Common Snowdrop, Common Storksbill, Eastern Cyclamen, White Dead-nettle; Lesser Periwinkle, Blue Anemone, Petty Spurge, Greater Periwinkle, Yellow Nonea, Purple Toothwort, Dog Mercury, budding Ragwort, Common Chickweed; Daffodil, Groundsel; Intermediate Periwinkle var. alba, Colt's Foot, Red Clover, Comphrey, Sweet Violet, Sweet Violet var. alba, Common Whitlowgrass. (Phew! 😅)

Spring has most definitely sprung around Cambridge this week, Hawthorn and Hazel in leaf, Cherry, Blackthorn and Apple all blossoming - and I found 35 flowers for the final #WildflowerHour #TheWinter10 🙂
Looking forward to the weekly challenges restarting...
Names in ALT text.

Edward, I'm up for a Swallowtail day trip, not done it for a few years.
And it might be possible to see Fen orchids on the same day...

Clockwise from top left: Eastern Cyclamen, Common Chickweed, Daisy, Colt's-foot, White Dead-nettle, Sweet Violet, Field Forget-me-not, Dandelion, Field Speedwell, Red Dead-nettle, Common Snowdrop and Winter Aconite.

Spring was most definitely in the air today 🙂
#TheWinter10 plus two for this week's #WildflowerHour, names in Alt-text.
The earliest record for a UK orchid flowering is 4 March 2023, for an Early Purple orchid - less than two weeks away!
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social
@bsbibotany.bsky.social

Thanks Jill 🙂

Not enough time to look for #TheWinter10 this week, but I did find these Double Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis 'Flore Pleno') growing wild in our local park for #WildflowerHour.
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social
@bsbibotany.bsky.social

Thanks James 🙂

The snowdrops are out around Cambridge in excellent numbers. Apparently, there are over 500 different varieties at the @nationaltrust.org.uk Anglesey Abbey. These are growing in nearby woodland, but I think they're just Common?
#WildflowerHour
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social
@bsbibotany.bsky.social

Some early signs of Spring in a local woodland; Hazel buds, Hawthorn buds, Dog's Mercury, Bluebell shoots, Lords and Ladies, and a sizeable colony of Early Purple orchid rosettes.
#WildFlowerHour
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
@ukorchids.bsky.social

I thought I'd not taken any flower pics last week, but I'd misremembered!
Cherry Plum blossom, White Comphrey, False Mayweed, Small Nettle - not too long till Spring 🙂
#WildFlowerHour
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social
@bsbibotany.bsky.social

I finally got a pic of the Scaup in Milton Country Park in nice light, though it was a little distant.
@cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

Some budding Winter Aconites for this week's #WildFlowerHour, in our local Cambridgeshire park.
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social
@bsbibotany.bsky.social

Thanks Rob!

Thanks Helen,
Yes, really lovely looking, and great to watch.
We've not had a bumper year like 2017 since, though there were a few around Cambridge in 2024 - but I seemed to be chasing them around the town on my bike most of the time, and they'd always moved on to the next location!

For today's #BirdOfTheDay, here is a gorgeous Waxwing, from February 2017. There were hundreds around Cambridge that year, and this flock were feeding on Rosehip berries along the Guided Busway.
Not so many this year!

An Anna's hummingbird for #BirdOfTheDay
I took this in Phoenix, Arizona in 2012. They move so quickly, and only seem to rest for a matter of seconds.
This one was reasonably acceptable out of about 200 attempted shots!

Top to bottom, left to right: Eastern Sowbread / cyclamen, Intermediate Periwinkle var. alba, Dove's-foot Crane's-bill, Creeping Comphrey, Musk Mallow; Common Carrot, Ragwort, Greater Periwinkle, Red Dead-nettle, Sun Spurge; Red Clover, Field forget-me-not, Black Nightshade; Hawkweed Oxtongue, Field Speedwell, False Mayweed, Shepherd's Purse, Yarrow; Dandelion, Daisy, Common Chickweed, White Clover, Herb Robert.

On New Year's Day I cycled around Cambridge and found 23 wild or naturalised flowers in bloom!
Given the snow that's forecast for later this week, I might need to 'borrow' some of these to make #TheWinter10 for next Sunday's #WildflowerHour 🙂
#NYPH #NewYearPlantHunt
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social

😅

I got half of #TheWinter10 for this week's #WildflowerHour. A nice, pinkish Yarrow, Black Nightshade having a second bloom, Red and White Clover, and the first Primrose I've seen since Spring 🙂
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social
@bsbibotany.bsky.social

A Christmas-special for #WildflowerHour this week...
This stunning phalaenopsis legoconstructio appeared on our lawn!
Actually, a fantastic present from my daughter, and only a few months to go before the start of the UK orchid season...
🥳🎉

Thanks Steven, yes, I think they could be...

Any #Fungi experts able to help with the identification of these please?
I've been through my books, and I'm still stuck!

Stately white orchid spikes emerging from vegetation, title of book is ORchids of Britain and Ireland - a photographic guide, by Mike Waller and Sean Cole with Rainar Kurbel

Burnt-tip Orchids, white flowers speckled with maroon markingd, the flower spikes topped by dark maroon

Fields of Green-winged Orchids at sunset

Various paler examples of Green-winged Orchids, showing the beauty and variety of this species

Hi orchid lovers!
Our new book is due to be published in spring 2026!
It will be a large-format, A4 photographic guide to all British & Irish orchids, to complement our field guide, Britain's Orchids.
Please support us if you'd like a copy!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/orc...

Thanks Helen, can't wait for the Spring!