SPRING AND MOTHS WHEN YOU ARE EIGHT YEARS OLD

"Nice bush," said the boy, slowing his bike.

"Elderberry," I called.

He looked back, surprised. Then he pedaled faster to catch his fast moving flock of friends.

I don't know whether he was surprised because the tree has a name or because I spoke.

Either way, he was wrong about the tree. It is not a 'nice bush'. It's lost its shape. It's flat faced. Shaved back. But . . . BUT . . . little leaves are sprouting and tiny flower buds less than a centimeter across are clearly visible. (Clearly visible, that is, if you are prepared to stick your eyes up close to the surprise of passing boys.)

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There's one boy I know who wouldn't be surprised in the least - naturalist Sonny Riddell who lives and observes in Dumfries-shire, Scotland. Last year, Sonny (who is eight) presented a short documentary called 'Signs of Spring'.

Sonny (whose birthday is next Wednesday!) is enthusiastically interested in the natural world - especially in moths. Of his presentations, my favourite is about Moths and Moth Traps.

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NEXT
On the Loose and Leafy Tree Following Page, I've offered to publish observations on behalf of Tree Followers who have no other way of posting them to the internet. Tree Watcher is the first to have emailed me material. (Magnolia.) It's quite substantial so I've set up a companion blog called 'Other People's Pictures'. If you are a reader without a blog who would like to post about your tree - please send your material by 1st April at the latest. I know this is a bit early but I'll need a bit of time to get it ready in time for the Tree Following Link Box on the 7th of the month.

Three topics. Three pigeons. One tree.

What tree?

Sycamore?

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LINKS

Sonny Riddell - Signs of Spring

Sonny Riddell - Moths and Moth Traps
'Tree Watcher's' first Tree Following Post - Tree Following By Mail

For links to Tree Following posts in the March Link Box - CLICK HERE.

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COMMENT SETTINGS, LINK BOXES AND TREE FOLLOWING

Turkey Oak - Feb. 16th 2014

Gearing up for the full-scale start of Tree Following on 7th March. The list of participants is growing. Several bloggers have already introduced their trees. Some of us (like me!) are still looking around, trying to decide which tree to chose. It's like doing warm up exercises as we approach the blocks.

This slow beginning is good. It gives us time to think about our trees, how much attention we will give them. Will it be an occasional photograph? An in depth focus on the insects which live on them through the year? The development of their fruit from blossom to drop? (Maybe there will be recipes?)

It also gives us time to iron out some wrinkles.

One of the trials of blogging is that the anti-spam settings on Loose and Leafy make it difficult for some to leave comments.

Turkey Oak. Feb. 16th 2014

So why do I not change the settings? - Because nearly all the 'anonymous' comments coming into my email box from other blogs are spam and I don't want to impose this on you. I really have thought about it.

So - this post is to say taking part in Tree Following through Loose and Leafy does not depend on you being able to leave comments.

To let me know you are taking part, you can leave a comment - but you can also email me at

looseandleafy@googlemail.com

and I'll add you to the list.

When the linky box goes up for posts on 7th March it will suggest you leave a comment. This is because it's a free box and that's part of the text included. Ignore it. If the box accepts the URL to your tree following post - well, you're away. We'll be able to find you and read about your tree - and that's what matters.

What if you don't have a blog but would like to take part? That's fine. Email me and, if we can, we'll make space on Loose and Leafy for a photograph of your tree and a paragraph about it every so often.

You might want to follow a tree by posting photos on Twitter. Twitter isn't perfect for pictures but there's no reason why we shouldn't have a list of Tree Tweeters along with the list of Tree Following bloggers.

The pictures on this page are all of a Turkey Oak, taken on 16th February 2014.
This is one of the plants beneath it - taken on the same day.

Have you thought of following a tree by using YouTube? I've experimented a little with this. Here's the link to my YouTube page. It's not very developed - seaweed being brought onto the shore, leaves rustling. Here are birds singing as the sun comes up over one of the trees I've followed. Think about it - how about doing a sound picture of your tree over the year? If you decide to follow your tree that way - let me know and we'll have a list for Tree Following on Film.

I'm Following a Tree

Carole at La Fosse - The House on the Hill - has introduced her magnificent Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) 

And Gill at On the Edge Gardening has chosen a Medlar tree.

Any questions, any suggestions - ask them, make them!

(Incidentally, for those of you new to Loose and Leafy - it's not soley about trees but all sorts of hedgerow plants. Sometimes we look at urban wild plants too - here's the most recent urban plant post - Out on the Town.)

And remember - first Linky Box for full scale Tree Following start up this year will be - 7th March 2014.

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If you'd like to use the Tree Following motif

on your blog

this is its url

http://tinyurl.com/qaesqpb