WHAT I HAVE LEARNT THROUGH THE YEAR

The title for this post is the wrong one. But it's near enough. With the rain so rainy, the ground so squishy, the cliffs so dangerous - liable to melt away and disintegrate after weeks of steady downpour (and it's not stopped yet!) . . . it's simply not practical to do much in the way of  a regular post - so I'll shelter under cover of the season and reflect on the year passed.

Those of us who live in Dorset are specially fortunate in that we have great variety right on our doorsteps. We don't need to go far to find wonderful things. The view may change little but what's under-foot is constantly on the move.

Chicory flowers. August 8th 2012

Plants come and go.

Caloplaca aurantia  - September 8th 2012

Lichens spread.

A bi-valve fossil (don't know of what). Photograph -  November 8th 2012

The sea wears away at the rocks and reveals layer upon layer of creatures from the past.

Blackthorn blossom - April 16th 2012

To some degree, seasons have become a little passé.

I know when and where the blackthorn will flower,

Janaury 13th 2012

ivy berries form,

One of King Alfred's Cakes - Daldinia concentrica

November 17th 2012

fungi appear . . . 

so I find myself looking closer and closer to find the 'more' - and the closer you look, the more and more you do find.

Hence being entranced by lichen. Lichens are here all year round. If you stand back, they are unchanging. Walk forward and you are caught in a world of widening circles, fruiting bodies, fantastic and fantastically changing colours. I know nothing about lichen and know I never will - I know I'm not about to start trekking around with a microscope. BUT, for all that, you can count yourselves lucky I don't show you the same patch of lichen every week, saying 'isn't this lovely? over and over.

Common Orange Lichen - Xanthoria parietina - on the Elderberry We're Following - December 8th 2012

There's a lot of lichen on the elderberry tree we're following. (To see the elderberry posts, click HERE. In giving the link, I realise I have been remiss and should have posted more.) Indeed, I've lost track of the tree as a whole and have got stuck on this one little crook in the branch where the leaves don't grow much and the lichen (a very ordinary, common lichen) is lovely.

Groundsel - Senecio vulgaris - June 15th 2012

Another way in which you might be glad I don't indulge my interests is that I'm drawn, more and more, to the streets. I expect the moment will come when I feel I have photographed enough groundsel to last me till I die. But not yet. It seems to be ever present, ever lovely, ever despised.

Mexican Fleabane
- Erigeron karvinskianus -
July 4th 2012

Sometimes, I'm able to stand back and see unkempt roadsides as others see them - a mess. Mostly though, I'm delighted by the way all sorts of plants find ways to live along side us, in the cracks and in the kerbs - and if I walk down a street where the residents or authorities are assiduous in sweeping them away, I think 'How boring'! (Not that they ever manage completely. I track along the pavements till I find something green - and rejoice in its dogged rebellion. Sorry!)

Insects - through much of the summer I had to resist showing you hoverflies in every post.

Hoverfly - Eristalis tenax- September 13th 2012

I hadn't realised before that there are so many different kinds of hoverfly, how many patterns there are on their backs - that they have hairy eyes. (Hairy eyes!) In this I've been helped and inspired by Chris Webster - see the site British Hoverflies.

And, through the year, I've come across new blogs, new resources - and learnt to value some old ones even more than before. I don't know whether you've explored the Loose and Leafy Pages (you find them via tabs along the lower edge of the header picture) but many of these are there. There's a new tab too - with links to articles I've found specially interesting. There are not a lot there yet - I've only just started - but you might like to take a look. During the year, something technical went wrong with a couple of the others, making them inaccessible so I deleted them and began again. I've been putting back the links as I remember them and flinging them in in no particular order -so they are still in a muddle and some still be missing - but do browse! One day, I'll give them better categories. Meanwhile, enjoy the chaos.

* * *

Maybe I could mention a few of the blogs and sites I admire? Some old favourites. Some new.

Green Shield Bugs (Palomena prasina) mating
July 1st 2012

INSECTS ET AL.

Try Bug Blog. (And the woodlice post under 'Recommended Reads'.)

And Ed Philips' Insect, Macro and Wildlife Images.

Chris Webster's British Hoverflies.

For people who like pictures and use Google Circles - you might like 'Bugs Every Day'. I truly can't fathom Google Circles. Can't make head or tale of it. Bugs Every Day doesn't post pictures of insects every day . . .  but . . .  I think it's amalgam of lots of people's pictures and is something to do with tagging . . . but . . . as Circles develop . . .

By the River Stour, Dorset
November 17th 2012

FOR PEOPLE WITH GARDENS

"You Can Grow That' articles in Tree Care Tips are an invaluable resource - not only wonderfully helpful for people wanting to grow trees but for the rest of us who would like to understand trees better. (Take a look down the 'categories' section in its right hand margin too.)

CONTRIBUTE TO THE GENERAL STORE OF KNOWLEDGE IN EXCHANGE FOR HELP WITH ID.

Click to go to iSpot

Regular Readers will know how enthusiastic I am about iSspot - It's a must for anyone in the UK who takes natural history photos and a brilliant inspiration and resource for everyone. (If you are interested to see my contributions, they are HERE. As you will see, it's a place where I not only contribute pictures but check identifications before putting them on Loose and Leafy - and learn new ones.)

Click to go to Nature Plusat theNatural History Museum

I've recently joined the general-public-and-ID-section (Nature Plus) of the Natural History Museum too. I'm not entirely admiring of this. . . where iSpot is clean and precise, the NHM site has fallen into the social-networking-trap . . . you get your own page . . . you can set up little quizzes . . . but do take a look - it might be just right for you. (I'm still at the 'getting lost there' stage!)

The Sycamore Tree we are following
as it was on October 17th 2012

WOODLAND, HEDGEROW AND SUCHLIKE

Are you following The Cabinet of Curiosities? Like Loose and Leafy, the content is random, you never know what might come up next. But unlike Loose and Leafy - the writer (Paul Gates at Durham University) knows what he is talking about.

(See the links in his sidebar? To his under the microscope blog - Beyond the Human Eye - and his Digital Botanic Garden.)

For identifying wild plants - Nature Gate (based in Finland!)
and Wild Flower Finder (extensive and absorbing).

If you are in America - The Wildflower Journal - every day a picture. The cataloguing is primarily by month - which is interesting - but there are plant labels in the margin too. This is part of a wider project - take a look.

Fucus Serratus - October 11th 2012

SEASHORE

Do you know Wanderin' Weeta? where Susannah in (British Columbia) tracks all sorts of tiny seawater creatures - barnacles and mini-crabs - often in a tank so her pictures can be very precise.

Diploicia canescens - August 19th 2012

LICHENS

Can't help it but, every time I suggest sites to look at, I have to include this one - Alan Silverside's Lichen Pages. (Scottish and Other British Lichens)

BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS

Gatekeeper - Pyronia tythonus -
August 25th 2012

To identify a butterfly or day-flying moth.  (With Butterfly Conservation.)

UK Butterflies is really good too - one of my favourite sites. It's a great place to browse - with lots of pictures, lots of information - a very handy route to  IDs.

BIRDS

Kestrel - November 4th 2012

Bird Identifier. (With the R.S.P.B.) (I'ts surprising how well this works.)

June 23rd 2012

IDENTIFYING GARDEN SNAILS

See the Bug Blog Gallery.

Cliffs at Charmouth - April 2nd 2012

GEOLOGY BLOG

In the Company of Rocks and Stones

(I haven't found a good way yet to look up fossils on the internet - any ideas and links would be welcome.)

A FEW OF THE TOPICS ON LOOSE AND LEAFY

• FLOWERS
• FUNGI
• HEDGEROWS
• INVERTEBRATES
• LICHEN
• SEASHORE
• SEAWEED
• THE ELDERBERRY WE'RE FOLLOWING
• THE SYCAMORE WE'RE FOLLOWING
• THE VIEW WE'RE FOLLOWING
• TOWNS
• TREES
• SPRING
• SUMMER
• AUTUMN
• WINTER

There!
A mammoth summary of the year! (With quite a lot missing!)
Lots of links for you to follow in an idle or inquisitive moment.
Hopefully, they will be useful in the coming months too when you need a natural history ID.
All that remains is to wish you a happy new year so . . .

HAVE A VERY HAPPY 2013

EVERYONE!

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a P.S. re. my other blogs.

Blogger got confused about how much space we each have for pictures.

I got confused along with it and moved new pictures for

Message in  a Milk Bottle to a new place.

Even the URL for that got in a muddle at first - but 

THIS, NOW, IS IT! - M2

However . . . Blogger has now given us more space for each blog so I'm gradually re-activating my original blog -

PICTURES JUST PICTURES

The two blogs will have the same photos - but the different backgrounds give them different atmospheres. If you are not already following either - you might like to choose between them.

(Or, if you are, there's the option to switch - or even to follow both.)

L.

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