Tom the Botanist

Category: This Week in Photos

  • This Week in Photos 11th – 24th May (20, 21)

    This Week in Photos 11th – 24th May (20, 21)

    Week 20 – 11th-17th May

    Bluebell Ffridd – Lousewort Upper Gam – Bird Cherry – Malvern View – Brassica

    1. Bluebell Ffridd, Prys Gwyn Gwyll, Powys. 11.05.26. Interesting to see this ancient hillside, covered in bluebells still in their prime, weeks after those in the lowlands were over.
    2. Lousewort Pedicularis sylvatica is a hemi-parasite (a parasite capable of photosynthesis) that taps into the roots of nearby grasses and more. Ty Newydd, Cledan, Powys. 11.05.26
    3. Bird Cherry Prunus padus is a native shrub / small tree that can be found in shaded river valleys and stream sides. Seen here on the Ty Newydd, Cledan, Powys. 11.05.26.
    4. Malvern Hills viewed from Hartlebury Common. 11.05.26.
    5.  Oh no, a Brassica!? Note how the buds of the unopened flowers are held beneath those in flower. I keyed this out to Turnip Brassica rapa, more details to follow. Mitton Marsh, 15.05.26.

    Week 21 – 18th-24th May

    Sheep sorrel carpet – Meadow foxtail medley – Wild strawbs – Herb paris paradise – Common Spotted Orchids

    6. Sheep Sorrel Rumex acetosella turning the lowland dry acid grassland sward red. Hartlebury Common. 19.05.26.
    7. Meadow Foxtail Alopecurus pratensis is so conspicuous at this time of year. Martley Millennium Green. 20.05.26.
    8. Wild Strawberry Fragaria vesca scattered across the woodland floor at Penny Hill Quarry, Worcestershire. 21.05.26.
    9. The most Herb Paris Paris quadrifolia that I’ve ever seen! Penny Hill woods. 21.05.26.
    10. Common Spotted Orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii making its way out of the hedgerow and into the newly regenerating grassland, west of Penny Hill Quarry. 21.05.26.

    Notes

    These last two weeks have really seen the grasses explode into flower. Early flowers include the meadow grasses Poas, the fescues Festuca, the bromes Bromus, foxtails Alopecurus, the rye grasses Lolium. Holcus, and Arrhenatherum are also on their way, with the latter being mostly out by now. Of course we’re yet to see any bent grasses Agrostis.

  • This Week in Photos: May 4th – 10th (19)

    This Week in Photos: May 4th – 10th (19)

    Cow Parsley bridge – Pink Hawthorn – Hybrid Campion – Small-flowered Crane’s-bill – Red Sheep Sorrel – Green Hairstreak

    1. Cow Parsley bridge. Leapgate Old Railway Line. 04.05.26.
    2. Pink Hawthorn blossom along Titton Lane, Hartlebury. 04.05.26.
    3. Candidate for Hybrid Campion Silene x hampeana on Titton Lane, Worcestershire. This strikingly large plant with whitish pink flowers made me stop my bike and shout HYBRID!? 04.05.26.
    4. Small-flowered Crane’s-bill Geranium pusillum on the summer-dry grasslands of Hartlebury Common. 08.05.26.
    5. Sheep’s Sorrel Rumex acetosella turning the acid grassland between the lowland heathland red. Hartlebury Common. 08.05.26.
    6. Green Hairstreak hiding in heather. Hartlebury Common. 08.05.26.

    Notes

    A limited selection from a couple of outings last week, as we get closer to our wedding. Happy to see the Hybrid Campion and Green Hairstreak!

  • This Week in Photos: April 27th – May 3rd – French Alps Edition (18)

    This Week in Photos: April 27th – May 3rd – French Alps Edition (18)

    Buildings of Quai de l’Évêché in Annecy. 27.04.26.
    Boating on the Canal du Vassé, Annecy. 27.04.26.
    Alpine views en route to Chamonix on the N205 at Les Houches, heading east. 28.04.26
    Which way to the top? Buvette du Plan de l’Aiguille, Mont Blanc. 28.04.26
    Buvette du Plan de l’Aiguille. 28.04.26.
    ‘Espresso and beer, please.’ Buvette du Plan de l’Aiguille. 28.04.26.
    On the edge of the known world. Buvette du Plan de l’Aiguille. 28.04.26.
    Yellow-billed Chough looking for a bite to eat. Buvette du Plan de l’Aiguille. 28.04.26.
    ‘Definitely that way’. Buvette du Plan de l’Aiguille. 28.04.26.
    Casino Royale, Chamonix. 28.04.26.
    Paragliders over La Tournette, viewed from Roc de Chère. 29.04.26.
    Meadow Cabin, Réserve Naturelle du Roc de Chère. This meadow was outstanding, and I’ll post more about the species found here in another plant-dedicated post. 29.04.26
    Crocus emerging from the melting snowbeds. Semnoz. 30.04.26.
    A red kite soars at Semnoz with views of the Alps, looking south-east. 30.04.26.
    Pont de la Caille between Annecy and Geneva is a suspension bridge that crosses the river Usses, built in 1839. 30.04.26.

    Notes

    This week saw me exploring Annecy, Chamonix and the French Alps as part of my stag-do.

  • This Week in Photos & Flowers : April 20th – 26th (17)

    This Week in Photos & Flowers : April 20th – 26th (17)

    Bluebells at Pound Green – Bitter-vetch – ‘Wonky Horns’ – Annual knawel leaves – Ducklings – Teesdalia habitat – Pudford Sunset – Stork’s-bill on the verge

    Pathway through the Bluebells at Pound Green Coppice, Wyre Forest.  22.04.26.
    Bitter-vetch Lathyrus linifolius in flower on a scrubby woodland bank in Blackgraves Copse, Wyre Forest. 22.04.26.
    ‘Wonky Horns’ is one of my favourite Long Horns roaming Hartlebury Common. She is unique in having offset horns. She recently featured on the cover of Worcestershire Biodiversity Duty Report, too. 23.04.26.
    Annual Knawel Scleranthus annuus is an annual of disturbed sandy soils, so it’s no surprise that it is present on Hartlebury Common. This photo shows the fused opposite leaves, characteristic of the genus.
    A mother mallard and her ducklings, swimming in water that will be gone by the summer. The Bog, Hartlebury Common. 23.04.26.
    Typical habitat for Shepherd’s cress Teesdalia nudicaulis which thrives on the disturbed loose sand of Hartlebury Common. 23.04.26
    Sunset views north-west over the Teme Valley and towards Titterstone Clee Hill, from Pudford Hill. 23.04.26.
    Common stork’s-bill Erodium cicutarium blanketing the sandy, infertile road verge on Mill Road, Stourport-on-Severn.

    Notes

    This week, St. Mark’s Flies have taken to the skies coinciding nicely with the start of the hawthorn blossom. The docile flight of St. Mark’s Fly seems to make them the perfect snack for an acrobatic house sparrow, a behaviour that I’ve observed for the first time in the garden this week.

  • This Week in Photos: 13th – 19th April (16)

    This Week in Photos: 13th – 19th April (16)

    Rapeseed sunset – Jack-by-the-hedge – Bluebells at Shrawley – Apple Blossom – Lords-and-ladies – Small nettle vs. Common nettle

    Rapeseed by Sunset, Torton. 14.04.26.
    Jack-by-the-hedge Alliaria petiolata, Leapgate Railway Line, 15.04.26.
    Bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta at Shrawley Woods. 18.04.26.
    Apple Blossom fills the air with the sweet scent of roses. Hartlebury Common. 19.04.26.
    Lords-and-ladies Arum maculatum. Hartlebury Common. 19.04.26.
    Comparison of Small nettle Urtica urens (foreground) with Common Nettle Urtica dioica behind it. Near Ingon, Warwickshire. 14.04.26.

    Notes

    I haven’t managed to capture as much as I’d have liked to this week, but Week 16 has felt like the true start of spring.

    Apple blossoms are fully out, cow parsley is starting, but the most obvious features of the countryside that have stood out have been the rapeseed fields, the bluebell woods, and Jack-by-the-hedge. A lot has recently come into flower on Hartlebury Common, too, including many smaller acid grassland flowers.

  • This Week in Photos: 30th March – 5th April (14)

    This Week in Photos: 30th March – 5th April (14)

    Golden hour – Slate binoculars at Corris – Mine tunnels – Slate stock fencing – ‘Little Italy’ – Barmouth bridge – Marsh Marigolds

    Nestled in the trees by golden hour. Arthog, 29.03.26.
    Sunset over the Mawddach Estuary, viewed from the Arthog side. 29.03.26.
    The ‘Binoculars’ at Abercwmeiddaw Quarry, Corris, were created by an experimental steam-powered tunnelling machine in 1864. Gwynedd. 30.03.26.
    A slate-slip and a portal. In the tunnels at Abercwmeiddaw Quarry, Corris, Gwynedd. 30.03.26.
    Slate was so readily available as a local resource that in Corris, it is used as stock fencing. 30.03.26.
    ‘Little Italy’ is a model village near Corris, built over decades by local resident Mark Bourne. 30.03.26.
    1864 was a good year for steam power. The same year that the test tunnels were being drilled over at Corris, construction on the Barmouth Bridge began. 31.03.26
    Marsh Marigold Caltha palustris brightening the wet alder woodland at Hillditch Coppice, Worcestershire. 01.04.26.

  • This Week in Photos: 9th-15th of March (11)

    This Week in Photos: 9th-15th of March (11)

    Shelsley Walsh church – Pink Vinca – Wild daffodils – White sweet violet – First wood anemone – Spring lambs – Black phesant – Vine farm pools

    St. Andrew’s Church, Shelsley Walsh. This church, nestled in the Teme Valley has a unique atmosphere. It was built mostly from Tufa from the nearby Southstone Rock in the 12th-century. 14.03.26.
    An interesting pink and white form of Lesser Periwinkle Vinca minor, growing from a hedge. St. Andrew’s Church, Shelsley Walsh. 14.03.26
    Wild Daffodils Narcissus pseudonarcissus subsp. pseudonarcissus is our native daffodil, seen growing in abundance at St Mary’s Church, Stanford. 13.03.26.
    ‘Pushing daffodils’. St Mary’s Church, Stanford. 13.03.26.
    White Sweet Violet Viola odorata var. dumetorum. St Peter’s Church, Martley. 12.03.26. More on Sweet Violet variations coming up in a future article.
    My first Wood Anemone Anemone nemorosa of this year. On a verge near St. Michael and All Saints Church, Great Witley. 14.03.26.
    Lambs in spring sunshine. Shelsley Walsh, Worcestershire. 14.03.26.
    A dashing melanistic black Phesant. Nineveh, Worcestershire. 12.03.26
    Attenuation features I recently delivered in my role at Severn Rivers Trust. Vine Farm, Nineveh. 12.03.26. See Week 10, for the Pied Wagtail that found them on the same day.

  • This Week in Photos: 1st-7th of March (10)

    This Week in Photos: 1st-7th of March (10)

    Gateway to Heaven – Plough by sunset – This could be anywhere in the world – Early Dog-violet – Coltsfoot Rock – Old ant hills – Pied wagtail pond – Greenfinch vs Siskin

    Gateway to Heaven. A farm track by sunset, heavy with the scent of the cherry plum blossom. The lighter evenings are here. Dunley, Worcestershire. 04.03.26.
    Ploughing by sunset and the Abberley Hills. Dunley, Worcestershire. 04.03.26.
    ‘This could be anywhere in the world‘ (but it is a sunset in Dunley, Worcestershire). 04.03.26.
    The first clutch of Early Dog-violet Viola reichenbachiana flowers. St. Peter’s church, Martley. 04.03.26.
    Colt’s-foot Tussilago farfara was once used to flavour a type of medicinal sweet known as Coltsfoot Rock. Hopehouse Lane, Marley. 04.03.26.
    Ant hills creating valuable niches and micro-habitats in grassland. They are often a sign of old, unimproved grassland, being intolerant of heavy grazing and excessive disturbance. Nineveh, Worcestershire. 02.03.26.
    A pied wagtail finds our day-old wetland at Vine Farm, Nineveh. 02.03.26.
    Greenfinch (L) and Siskin (R) share the feeder. Hartlebury Common, Worcestershire. 02.03.26.

    Notes: It has recently become the time of year when you can wake up to daylight and even squeeze a short walk in after work, racing the setting sun. Three photos from the same spot this week (Dunley), but it’d be a shame not to share these golden hour shots. 08.03.26.

  • This Week in Photos: 23rd February – 1st March (9)

    This Week in Photos: 23rd February – 1st March (9)

    The verdant bus – Lesser Celandine – First blossom – Searching Stanner Rocks – Grassland vs wet woodland

    The Verdant Bus. This scene always makes me chuckle when passing through Wolferlow,  Teme Valley. 25.02.26.
    Lesser Celandine Ficaria verna has started flowering, brightening waysides far and wide with its sunny yellow blooms. Hopehouse Lane, Martley. 23.02.26.
    Cherry Plum Prunus cerasifera is currently in full blossom in a hedgerow near you! This species is different from Blackthorn, which flowers later, has brown twigs and spines (more on this later).  Stourport-on-Severn, 26.02.26.
    Searching for Early Star-of-Bethlehem Gagea bohemica at Stanner Rocks NNR, Radnorshire. Scott and I found lots of plant tags, but failed to relocate them. 28.02.26.
    What is, versus what could be. Improved grassland contrasted with wet woodland of a different ownership. Floodplain of the River Severn, Astley Burf via Shrawley brickpits. 01.03.26.

    Notes: The thing that doesn’t show in these photos is the birdsong. Everywhere I’ve been, the birdsong has been omnipresent. A stark contrast from the previous months, and along with the spring sunshine, is very welcome indeed.

  • This Week in Photos: 16th – 22nd of February (8)

    This Week in Photos: 16th – 22nd of February (8)

    Snow above the Teme – Wood Ant Seedlings – Ponds in Kyre – First Frogspawn – First Bumblebees

    Snowy views, looking west over the Teme Valley. Stanford Bridge. 19.02.26.
    Garlic Mustard Alliaria petiolata seedlings getting a headstart on a Wood Ant Formica rufa nest. Ribbesford Woods. 22.02.26.
    Ribbesford Church on Fujifilm. 22.02.26.
    Before and After. 24 hours after this attenuation feature was created it almost filled, following a high rainfall event. Kyre, Tenbury Wells. 18-19.02.26.
    First frogspawn of the year. Garden Pond, Stourport-on-Severn. 21.02.26.
    Bumblebees out in force on a south-facing, ornamental Winter Heath Erica carnea. Ribbesford Church. 22.02.26

    Mostly a small collection of phone photos for this week. It has definitely felt spring-like, with the arrival of the frogspawn and seeing bees and wood ants emerging. Roll on spring!