Neil Forbes

Opposite-leaved Pondweed Groenlandia densa by the River Ems, Hampshire. Although not flowering, the last time this species was recorded on the Ems -1887- Queen Victoria had just been celebrating her Golden Jubilee. @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflowerhour

Nice photo

Myosotis arvensis

Not so much about this week but I did find this Field Forget-me-not, Myosotis arvensis struggling on in the cold snap a few days ago.
#wildflowerhour
#Arnside #Cumbria

CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1965: 20-1

CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1990: 75-1

CEO-to-worker pay ratio today: 280-to-1

Trickle-down economics was always a sham.

Nothing has ever trickled down.

Incoming...

(Sound on)

#Starlings
@rspbengland.bsky.social
Leighton Moss

Raphanus raphanistrum subsp maritimus

Sea Radish, Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. maritimus.
Quite a bit sill in flower on the Arnside - Silverdale coastline.
#wildflowerhour
#NationalLandscapes
#Cumbria #Lancashire

Euphorbia peplus

Euphorbia peplus

A large Petty Spurge, Euphorbia peplus.
#StillFlowering in #Silverdale
#wildflowerhour

Tripleurospermum maritimum

Stunning Sea Mayyweed.
#StillFlowering for #wildflowerhour

Crepis capillaris

Crepis capillaris

Smooth Hawk's-beard, Crepis capillaris. Holding on after recent floods & frosts.
#wildflowerhour at #RSPB Leighton Moss & along the #Silverdale shore

The #Winter10 (11) from the #Silverdale coast.
#wildflowerhour in #Lancashire
Sea Mayweed, Sea Radish, Smooth Hawk's-beard, Nipplewort, Yarrow, Herb-Robert, Cock's-foot, Annual Meadow-grass, Hogweed, Smooth Sow-thistle & Ragwort.

Asplenium adiantum-nigrum

Asplenium adiantum-nigrum

Asplenium adiantum-nigrum

A luxuriant patch of Black Spleenwort growing on a limestone wall in Silverdale.
Wonderful botanical name - Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. A somewhat scarce species locally these days.
#WildFernHour ahead of tonight's #wildflowerhour

One-flowered glasswort (Salicornia disarticulata) still looking good on a North Norfolk saltmarsh. Distinctive little thing once known. The single flowers seem to typically turn reddish. Most other glassworts had died off for the winter already.

Four different flowers seen yesterday at RSPB Arne. Yellow gorse, and three types of purple flower: common heather, bell heather, and hedge woundwort.

Visted RSPB Arne in Dorset yesterday: the gorse was in flower in many parts of the heath, and I also saw some common heather, bell heather, and some hedge woundwort.
#wildflowerhour

Thymus drucei, Whitbarrow Scar

Thymus drucei, Whitbarrow Scar

I thought it would be pretty much done by for the year now but there was actually a fair amount of Wild Thyme, Thymus drucei, still in flower up on Whitbarrow Scar today.
#Wildflowerhour

It’s Sunday & it’s 8pm so it must be time for #wildflowerhour! Please share your pics of the wild & naturalised blooms you’ve spotted from across Britain & Ireland in the last week and did you manage to spot #thewinter10, our challenge for the coldest months! ☺️

Nipplewort, Lapsana communis, growing as a #PavementPlant in #Arnside
#wildflowerhour

Common Cord-grass, Spartina anglica #StillFlowering despite being in the #sea repeatedly over recent days. It is a fascinating & remarkable species, albeit often a problematic one.
#Wildflowerhour
#Arnside #Cumbria

Heracleum sphondylium, RSPB Leighton Moss

Hogweed, a most underrated species. The flowers are beautiful when you look closely - zygomorphic (mirror symmetry) & outer flowers with the biggest size difference between the petals. A late-flowering specimen seen at #RSPB Leighton Moss.
#wildflowerhour

Hard Fern, Blechnum spicant is very common in the Lake District but as a calcifugous species you don't often see it on limestone habitats.
Found this nice specimen with both frond types in a limestone woodland at The Howe, Whitbarrow today.
#wildfernhour - #wildflowerhour

‘We feel we’re fighting a losing battle’: the race to remove millions of plastic beads from Camber Sands A huge cleanup effort has seen volunteers working to remove beads by hand and machine. They can only wait and see the extent of damage to wildlife and dune habitat

I am bewildered that this labour of Sisyphus is being carried out by volunteers, while Southern Water, which has admitted responsibility for the catastrophe, is doing nothing to remediate it.

Always a bit of a surprise to flush #Snipe from habitats like this.
Gait Barrows #NNR #limestone pavement

On Monday 17th November we have a webinar from our @npwsireland.bsky.social-funded Targeted Aquatic Plants Project.

This webinar, from the fantastic Nick Stewart, is about the identification of non-native aquatic plants.

Interested? Book yourself a ticket here: www.tickettailor.com/events/botan...

Petty Spurge, Euphorbia peplus

Petty Spurge, Euphorbia peplus

Petty Spurge, Euphorbia peplus prefers "... well-drained and nutrient-rich soils in sun-warmed situations..." & so probably isn't enjoying the current water levels at RSPB Leighton Moss all that much at present.
@rspbengland.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...

Much talk all the time of freshwater wetlands being great filters & cleaning water. We must remember that sending dirty water into wetlands destroys them. There is nothing more certain in science than that. Make wetlands clean!!! @ramsar.org @freshwaterbio.bsky.social

Ok President Trump, if you sue the BBC for $1bn for spreading lies, I’ll sue you for the same amount. I reckon Planet Earth would crowdfund that. Then I’ll buy Mar A Largo, turn it into a climate change research centre, free Melania, and put a 1000% tariff on orange face paint.

Myosotis laxa

Tufted Forgot -me-not, Myosotis laxa. @rspbengland.bsky.social Leighton Moss.
#wildflowerhour

Sea Radish, Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. maritimus, growing on a recently inundated upper #saltmarsh
We've had several more very high tides since so it's probably looking very bedraggled by now.
#Wildflowerhour

A second #Winter10 for #Wildflowerhour.
From another lovely limestone site, Helsington Barrows.
Wild Thyme, Harebell, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Rough Hawkbit, Gorse, Bramble sp, Herb-Robert, Daisy, Dandelion & Creeping Buttercup.
#Cumbria

Centaurium erythraea

My favourite find this week, a ting Common Centaury on the exceptionally species-rich limestone grasslands at Jack Scout, #Lancashire
#Wildflowerhour

You can rely on Gorse to brighten up a day at any time of year.
#wildflowerhour
#Silverdale #Lancashire