Richard Bradford

Veteran Sweet Chestnut coming into leaf by the edge of a stony path heading up Cadair Idris in north Wales. A large branch from the tree lies behind it. Blue sky, with April clouds.

Wonderful veteran Sweet Chestnut by the Pony Path at Ty Nant, below Cadair Idris. A celebration of this week's #thicktrunktuesday from Gwynedd.

Like the Ritz for wildlife: the joy of recreating England’s ancient hedges Up and down the country, volunteers are coming together to plant more of these nature-rich reserves

Thank you @phoebeweston.bsky.social for such a wonderful and optimistic article on Hedgerows!

It's great to celebrate the wonders we have, appreciate the legacy, and use that to inform our combined future
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Blossom is so often overlooked when we choose a new apple tree, but as this wonderful montage from @thepackingshedtamar on IG shows, some varieties have especially beautiful flowers. Scent also varies greatly from variety to variety.

It's been a hell of a spring for Blackthorn. Anyone doing aerial remote sensing (drone or plane) of woodland, hedgerow or rewilding habitats in past 10 days would have a bonus of easily mapping this pollen/nectar resource. Hawthorn might do the same favour when it flowers later this/next month.

The Orange-tips were seeking out the Cuckoo flowers, (Cardamine pratensis) in the River Frome water meadows today.
#butterflies #botany
@dorsetandbeyond.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

I'm currently reading Michael McCarthy's wonderful book 'Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo', so over the moon that he's coming to speak on 24th April in #Shaftesbury, #Dorset.

A perfect excuse to visit friends.

Tickets available, but limited, so book soon: www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/fol... #birds

View up the twisted trunk of an old oak tree, first bend to the right and then to the left. Some of the trunk is moss- covered. Blue sky above.

Glorious twisted oak by the Dorset Frome at Stinsford to celebrate this week's #thicktrunktuesday.

A gravel path winds between flowering Blackthorn under a blue sky. Thin clouds at a high level, with a soft wind from the east behind you.

Blackthorn spring in Dorchester this week. The Cherry Plum blossom is beginning to fade leaving its confetti on the ground.

The path by Ten Hatches, today.

Looking up the trunk of a Plane tree in early spring. Warm brown bark, branches curled and twisted for some reason. No leaves emerged yet. Blue sky with high clouds beyond.

A Plane in Dunster Park to celebrate this week's #thicktrunktuesday.

The river flows from the midground across all the foreground, its flow partly interrupted by the trunk of a tree fallen from the bank on the right. Pale winter sun, blue sky with some cloud. Fresh green amongst last year's brown- green. Trees still with now leaves.

Meanwhile, 2km downstream, this.
📷 One of several courses of the Dorset Frome at Kingston Maurward.

Early morning sun behind willow trees on the bank of the Dorset Frome brings gold to the river. Trees darkly silhouetted against the blue sky. Mist rises from the river. Cold, ground frosted.

Friday morning at Hangman's Weir on the Dorset Frome, 400m from Dorchester's High Street.

Etching of an ancient Chestnut tree in autumn/winter field with 4 sheep

'Another Old Chestnut' - etching by Kent based artist and printmaker, Claire Longley

More of this artist's stunning work, here: clairelongley.com

#art #landscape #trees #treeart #nature

A gentle alternative to all the mayhem? Look to nature... and #naturewriting

It's a joy to work with Kirsteen Bell & share stories of our Scottish Highland homes.

Here's our latest in the series 'Croft, Coast & Hill: letters from the NW Highlands'
www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/02/crof...

A stark, stylishly simple watercolour of a river edged with willow and celandine. The water is very smooth and reflective of the white sky and the whole picture is in very muted tones

Other work of the Ladybird artists
‘The riverbank’
Artist: Rowland Hilder

Sepia colours, low winter sun through bare trees... alongside still river, or lake

Chalk Ridge - etching, by contemporary British landscape painter and printmaker, Kathleen Caddick

#art #etching

Watercolour illustration of a flooded field and path

“Heavy rains that often fall in February have flooded the low-lying meadows in the broad valley.”
‘What to Look for in Winter’, 1959
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Writer: EL Grant Watson

Country diary: The first, early stages of awakening as the Earth tilts towards the south | Sara Hudston Bridport, Dorset: Dormant buds formed at the end of last summer are responding to an alchemy of hormones, stored sugars and the gradual lightening of days

Bridport in bud in today's @theguardian.com country diary by Sara Hudston.

#countrydiary #naturewriting

The gaps in our knowledge about eels are fertile places for art and ideas to grow, writes Peter Rogers, as he releases a new eel-inspired EP https://buff.ly/40YbnhM

Massive trunk of an ancient pedunculate oak amongst younger trees. The trunk is gnarled, twisted with several big burrs. The oak is no longer alive but it now contains a myriad of other insects and fungi which are making good use of the timber. The tree is by a public footpath in Sherborne Deer Park, Dorset.

The Haydon Oak in Sherborne Deer Park. One of Dorset's ancients - in celebration of this week's #thicktrunktuesday.

📷 February 2023.

Low winter sun over the floodplains of the Dorset Frome at Lower Bockhampton. Predominantly blue, clear winter blue. Tree, with ivy, silhouette in the right foreground. Many shades of green/brown.

And finally, big thanks to everyone who looks after the Dorset Frome and its floodplains - the many land owners, farmers, angling clubs and riparian owners, authorities and organisations.

If you've enjoyed #WorldWetlandsDay, please join us again for #WorldRiversDay in September 2025.

Magnificent alder stands on the left bank of the river, a silhouette against the low winter evening sun. The river flows away from the photographer, disappearing round a bend beyond the alder.

The Dorset Frome and its floodplains are simply amazing wetlands - varied, resilient, adaptable, valuable and valued.

Long may they remain so, on #WorldWetlandsDay and beyond.

📷 Sentinel alder by the river near Stinsford.

Fingerpost on the Church Path at Stinsford alongside one of the tributaries of the Dorset Frome.

Suggestion 4:
Walk the Frome Trail, following the river downstream from Maiden Newton. Keep watch for signs of otter.

📷 Fingerpost on the Church Path at Stinsford, alongside one of the tributaries of the Dorset Frome.

Get Involved — The Riverfly Partnership To become a riverfly monitor, find your nearest monitoring group and attend a training session.

Suggestion 3:
Join a team of Citizen Scientists monitoring the biodiversity of their local rivers with @Riverflies see: riverflies.org/get-involved

Anyone interested in setting up a monitoring group along these lines for the Dorset Frome?

#WorldWetlandsDay

Screenshot of the cover of the 'Rights of Nature Toolkit's published in 2023-24.

Suggestion 2:
Learn about the movement advocating that rivers in the UK should be given a legal status to increase the likelihood that they will be better protected, see
www.kcl.ac.uk/legal-clinic...

#WorldWetlandsDay

Screenshot of the website for the Dorset Local Nature Recovery Strategy includes an image of Dorset Frome to the north of Dorchester. The draft Strategy is due to be published in spring 2025.

What can we do, as citizens concerned about the future wellbeing of the Dorset Frome and its floodplains? A few suggestions.

1. Press that further nature enhancements be carried out via the new Dorset Local Nature Recovery Strategy
#WorldWetlandsDay
www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/nature-recov...

Screenshot of an 'Wetlands Opportunity' map for the Dorset Frome downstream of Dorchester.

A 'Wetlands Opportunity' map has been developed for the catchments in Dorset to help prioritize future activities by organisations - including those working on the #floodplains of the Dorset Frome, see: gi.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/explorer/phc

Worth exploring this resource on #WorldWetlandsDay!

Infographic showing the habit improvements carried out on some of Dorset's rivers.

Improvements to the upper tributaries are often led by the Dorset Wildlife Trust and others, see www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/c...

Winter scene along the Dorset Frome to the north of Dorchester. Shade of greens, browns, olives. Wind blowing left to right under blue winter sky. This is a favoured swimming place for some.

Many organisations and individuals are working to enhance the Dorset Frome, often coordinated through the Dorset Catchment Partnership and their Strategy 2022-2027, see www.dorsetcatchments.co.uk/resources

Two big veteran alders stand with their feet in water by the Dorset Frome. Grey barked, furrowed barked. The trunk of the right hand one is broken (but not detached) and now rests on the ground. Still full of life even at this age.

Sometimes overlooked, the wetlands of the Dorset Frome have a wonderful heritage of veteran alder and crack willow.

How can we ensure that a succession of veteran trees can thrive across these floodplains? #WorldWetlandsDay

Seasonally flooded woodland by the Dorset Frome to the north of Dorchester. Water flows right to left through the trees during high river levels. Dorchester can be seen in the background.

Riparian woodland adds yet more natural diversity to the floodplains of the Dorset Frome.

This young willow carr, developing on an ungrazed area to the north of Dorchester, helps to store water at times of flood. #WorldWetlandsDay