Monday 22 July

Sunny morning

Touch Me Not Balsam - Impatiens noli-tangere our only native balsam it loves the wet areas in Burgh Wood and seems to be the winner at the moment against the Himalayan Balsam but it creeps around the edges and we need to keep our eye on it.

Take Care

Thursday 18 July

Sunny morning

 Himalayan Balsam - Impatiens glandulifera we are going to have to find an answer to this - watched a programme the other day about Beavers and as they are vegetarians could be the answer, well that's the theory put forward by the programme. The thought that crossed my mind was we have not had any beavers in Lancashire for 100s of years apart from the ones at Martin Mere for the public to view, there is an on going release project but I think it is in Scotland and if we do release some here it will take a while to establish, you get my point we need to be doing it now and not keep looking for answers to a problem that has taken over.

I love this flower and its cousins (morning glory), pity it is so invasive, in the wild it seems to be kept in check by nature but in our gardens it can become a nightmare. I am always warning against this and other plants that like to take control. Still it's a beauty and the insects love it.

Large Bindweed - Calystegia silvatica

Take Care

Saturday 11 August

Dry Morning

Yellow Flower Day

 Elecampane - Inula helenium

 Evening Primrose - Oenothera sp.

 Tansy - Tanacetum vulgare

Touch Me Not Balsam - Impatiens noli-tangere

Take Care

Sunday 8 July

Dry

 Common Knapweed  - Centaurea nigra

 Creeping Thistle - Circium arvense

 Himalayan Balsam - Impatiens glandulifera

 Swan Family

Timothy - Phleum pratense

Take Care

Wednesday 28 September

Dry Morning.

 Himalayan Balsam - Impatiens glandulifera it's every where and in big patches.

 Holly - Ilex aquifolium these berries will not see Christmas if the birds have anything to do with it.

 Scented Mayweed - Matricaria recutita

 Yellow Iris Seed Pods - Iris pseudacorus

The Snails in the photos below were all on the same plant - even though they are all different colours they are all White Lipped Snails

Arn't they amazing!!

Take Care.

Wednesday 7 September

Rain again but managed to get some photos between showers.

Balsam Galore - I don't think there is an area that has escaped - we need to get this under control before it seeds next year too late this year.

Himalayan Balsam - Impatiens glandulifera as you can see already bursting with seed, each pod holds an average of 8 seeds so we are looking at over 30/40 plants just from this little bunch.

Common Fleabane - Pulicaria dysenterica

Corn Mint - Mentha arvensis

First dead mole this year.

Lots of rabbits about and Meg is bewildered

Canadian Goldenrod - Solidago canadensis - this is now a large patch, when I first saw this it was about 2 feet square.

Take Care.

Thursday 1 September

Dry morning.

Fungi well past its best at the slippery log

 Himalayan Balsam there are large patches all over the valley

They come right up to the path edges - let's hope that mother nature finds a way to control it as we are losing the battle with it.

Take Care.

Wednesday 27 July

Sunny morning.

The pond near Burgh Lane south has been dug out, there has been a lot of activity around these fields lately.

 Cinnabar Caterpillar

 Gatekeeper

 Lesser Burdock - Arctium minus

 Touch Me Not Balsam - Impatiens noli-tangere

Fungi for ID found in Burgh Wood - the rotten stump could have been oak.

Fungi ID

Take Care.

Friday 1 July

Dry Morning

 Touch Me Not Balsam - Impatiens noli-tangere

 Touch Me Not Balsam - Impatiens noli-tangere

 Baled Hay on the Barrow Field

 Common Ragwort - Senecio jacobaea

 Gold-of-pleasure  - Camelina sativa

 Gold-of-pleasure  - Camelina sativa

 Gold-of-pleasure  - Camelina sativa

Gold-of-pleasure  - Camelina sativa

Take Care.

Sunday 19 June

Dry again

 Nest box in Burgh Wood - what ever tried to enlarge the hole did not manage it

 Hemp Agrimony - Eupatorium cannabinum

 Hemp Agrimony - Eupatorium cannabinum

 Touch Me Not Balsam - Impatiens noli-tangere just a couple of plants flowering early.

 Touch Me Not Balsam - Impatiens noli-tangere

 Velvet Bent - Agrostis canina

 Velvet Bent - Agrostis canina

Yarrow - Achillea millefolium

Take Care.