Drawing a Cactus for International Nature Journaling Day

 I've signed up for International Nature Journaling Day! As a warm up exercise, their website suggested drawing a cactus, so here is my attempt at sketching our cactus. 

It's very faint, but hopefully you can make it out! 

Here is our cactus in real life from more or less the same angle

The prickles were the hardest part of the plant to sketch (in fact, I didn't even try, though oddly enough, Crafty Green Boyfriend's first comment was how impressed he was with how I'd managed to capture the prickles in part of my sketch). 

International Nature Journaling Week starts tomorrow and you can find out more here. 

If you're in the UK, 30 Days Wild also starts tomorrow and you can find out more about that here.

Revisiting Saughton Cemetery

I'm still continuing my wildlife surveys of Edinburgh's council managed cemeteries! Today, Crafty Green Boyfriend accompanied me as  I revisited Saughton Cemetery, one of a number of cemeteries that sit alongside the Water of Leith. It's a medium sized cemetery with some lovely trees 

There were few pollinating insects around, partly due to the dull and cool weather, but also due to the recent collapse in insect numbers. However, it was nice to see a nest of Early Bumblebees in a corner of the cemetery (no photos, though, as the bees were moving around too quickly!). On the other hand, there were good numbers of ladybirds of various species and plenty of aphids for them to eat! 

Here are both adult and larvae of what I think are the sexpustulata variety of 2 spot ladybirds (though they could be pine ladybirds?) along with their lunch! Click on the phto for a closer view!

There were also a number of shield bugs, including this adult Hawthorn Shield Bug

and this click beetle (Athous haemorrhoidalis) was oddly numerous

There were plenty of birds around too, including this Oystercatcher, who looked most out of place in a cemetery but spent a long time running around, digging in the grass for food. 

 It's a good cemetery for mosses and lichens too, including this interesting looking lichen which I think is some type of Cladonia 

**

I'm delighted to have an article about the history of North Merchiston Cemetery in the latest issue of The Tower, the newsletter of St Michael's Church, Edinburgh. You can read the whole newsletter here.

Nature Activities for June

 I included this information in yesterday's blogpost, but realised it probably deserves a post of its own! 

It will soon be June, which means time for 30 Days Wild here in the UK! This is The Wildlife trusts' project to encourage people to engage with nature every day of the month! You can find out more here.  I'm hoping to take part as I have done in previous years and will blog about it here.

The first week of June is also International Nature Journaling Week! Follow this link to find out more. This is great timing as that's the week that I start teaching a class on nature journaling for Outlook, Edinburgh Council's adult education programme for people with mental health problems! Although I currently share my nature notes on this blog and make occasional collages, my own actual nature journal isn't particularly creative, so I hope to make amends for that over the course of the week (and probably beyond, given 30 Days Wild and my current work surveying wildlife and teaching about nature). I hope to share some of my results here.

And 1 June is the start of Big Meadow Search! The Big Meadow Search is a UK wide project developed by Carmarthenshire Meadows Group, to raise awareness and interest in grasslands and to record plant species. On any date between 1st June and 31st August, you can search any species rich grassland types such as meadows, field edges, woodland rides, churchyards, road verges, wild amenity grasslands and gardens. You can find out more and take part by visiting their website here. I hope to be able to include records from some of the cemeteries I survey in the Big Meadow Search. 

And the next season of Springwatch starts tomorrow! This programme follows the progress of Spring across the UK, and generally has something for everyone, from young people just getting interested in nature to experienced naturalists.

A Day at the Botanics

 We had a lovely walk round Edinburgh's Botanic Gardens today. Some of the rhododendrons (particularly the yellow ones) were still in wonderful bloom

 

as were the Meconopsis 

The cotoneaster bushes were full of bumble bees, especially Tree Bumblebees 

 

and Early Bumblebees 

These bees were particularly nice to see, as there seem to be few bees (and in fact any type of insect) this year. Though I was happy to see this bug, I think it's Liocoris tripustulatus, but am waiting for confirmation (edited to add, my identification has now been confirmed!)

It was lovely to see that the moorhens on the pond have a brood of four youngsters, though it proved impossible to get them all in one shot, thanks Crafty Green Boyfriend for the photo below

An old sweet chestnut tree died in the Botanics a few years ago and the area has been left to show what happens after a tree dies. 

 

It's interesting to see how overgrown the patch is now. 

The fallen dead wood is also a great habitat for invertebrates 

and the standing stump offers a roost site for bats. 

On the way home, we passed through a small park and were delighted to see that this area was full of bees

including this Tree Bumblebee

(If anyone recognises what the plant is, please let me know!)

**

It will soon be June, which means time for 30 Days Wild here in the UK! This is The Wildlife trusts' project to encourage people to engage with nature every day of the month! You can find out more here.  

The first week of June is also International Nature Journaling Day! Follow this link to find out more. This is great timing as that's the week that I start teaching a class on nature journaling for Outlook, Edinburgh Council's adult education programme for people with mental health problems! 

And 1 June is the start of Big Meadow Search! The Big Meadow Search is a UK wide project developed by Carmarthenshire Meadows Group, to raise awareness and interest in grasslands and to record plant species. On any date between 1st June and 31st August, you can search any species rich grassland types such as meadows, field edges, woodland rides, churchyards, road verges, wild amenity grasslands and gardens. You can find out more and take part by visiting their website here.

The Wolf, The Walnut and the Woodsman by Gabriel Hemery

 

"Codrina, the greatest mortal of all time, was born a humble woodsman’s daughter. Pursued by the ultimate darkness, the young girl is powerless, except for her budding green talent. This is a story of her struggle against evil as she befriends a great wolf, undertakes a perilous journey, and learns to harness the power of nature. Once buried in ancient scriptures, this brave retelling reveals the truths behind the creation of our most celebrated legend."

This novel is set in the mythical land of Askraland. Hemery has created a very convincing mythical world, complete with a fictional map at the beginning, which I always think is a nice touch in this type of epic fantasy tale. The world includes familiar elements alongside aspects that are less familiar. I particularly liked the elements that were similar to reality yet different enough to feel like genuine parts of an alternate reality (for example, The Abstinence is an equivalent to our Lent, icicledrops replace snowdrops and lapinettes are the equivalent of rabbits). There's a whole invented religion that seems like the cousin of Christianity, a complicated game of coins and cards called Wuka that seems to be a much more elaborate version of Paper, Stone, Scissors and woodcraft competitions. A mythical wolf features, as do ancient walnut trees.

Against this backdrop,  Codrina escapes after her parents are killed, but finds herself pursued by her parents' murderers. She finds sanctuary with a religious community, then endures a hard journey and time working in the silver mines before returning home. Will she then be able to fulfil her destiny, and is she in fact the hero foretold in ancient prophecy?

Hemery is a woodsman, and it shows in the narrative, with Codrina even at the age of 8 developing skills in using an axe and billhook and the many descriptions comparing things to forests:

"The buildings crowded the night sky, leaning over the narrowing space towards their neighbours, like under-thinned trees in a neglected forest"

However, although I was very impressed by the world building and the strong female characters, I felt a little underwhelmed by this novel. At 250 pages, it felt slight compared to many books in the genre (which often stretch to three volumes of over 500 pages each, certainly judging by the books that Crafty Green Boyfriend reads). I felt the reader would appreciate more detail about the perils of the various journeys and the relationship between Codrina and her mortal enemy. Also, the wolf could certainly have been a more developed character. However, it's an interesting story, set in a well imagined alternate world, with thought-provoking things to say about our relationship with the natural world. 

The Wolf, The Walnut and The Woodsman by Gabriel Hemery published by Wood Wide Works. 

Disclaimer: I received a free e-book of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Exploring Inch Park

 Yesterday I led the second in my series of walks round Inch Park, aiming to catalogue as much of the wildlife there as possible. The course is introducing people to the variety of nature found in the park and also to the concept of wildlife recording. We're creating a resource for Inch House that they can use, or add to, in future activities and will be sharing our sightings with The Wildlife Information Centre for Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Yesterday we spent the class alongside the Braid Burn that flows through part of the park. The burn is currently surrounded by flowers in full bloom, like the red campion in the photo below

There were several species of birds alongside the river (You may be able to see a male mallard in the photo above, if you click on it to enlarge it!). Goldfinches and swallows were the most numerous, while the blackbird entertained us with his song and a blackcap played hide and seek in the foliage. 

We also saw some interesting insects including this soldier beetle (which the Facebook Beetles of Britain and Ireland Group tells me is Cantharis nigricans)

 and this click beetle (which the same group tells me is Athous haemorrhoidalis) 

It's amazing what you can find in a suburban park if you walk slowly and look closely! 

It looks likely that I'll be running a similar course again in the Autumn! Watch this space! 

**

We're coming up to June, which in the UK means 30 Days Wild! This is The Wildlife Trusts' annual challenge to do one wild thing a day throughout the month of June. You can find out more and sign up here.

Nesting Season at Currie Cemetery!

 I'm continuing my wildlife surveys of Edinburgh's council managed cemeteries. Yesterday I travelled to Currie Kirkyard and Cemetery, which is almost in the countryside alongside the upper reaches of the Water of Leith. 

 Yesterday was my second survey of this cemetery, you can read about my first survey of this site here.

The kirkyard is very pretty, with several trees, while the newer cemetery extension offers wonderful views across to the new Forth Road Bridge and Fife. 

The weather was very mixed this morning, ranging from bright sunshine to torrential rain! However, that didn't seem to deter the birds! I watched house sparrows and starlings visiting their nests under the eaves of nearby buildings, a robin feeding its young and a blackbird filling its beak with earthworms to take home to the nest. Chaffinches were everywhere, singing loudly and continuously. 

Sadly, there didn't seem to be a great number of insects around. 

Flowers were in bloom though from daisies

to the sweetly scented lilac bush

and if you look carefully at all the green growth, there are a good number of mosses here, including the Juniper Haircap 

and this, which I think is a Common Pincushion Moss, with a lichen growing through it 

and lots of my favourite liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha, here is a female plant

and here's the male 

Tree Following - May update

 For Tree Following this year, I've chosen a magnificent old cherry tree in North Merchiston Cemetery in Edinburgh (you can see it in the photo above, just to the left of the church building). Crafty Green Boyfriend and I started walking round this cemetery (and the nearby Dalry Cemetery) every day for our #DailyExercise during the first UK lockdown last year. And we're still doing the same walk regularly, though not quite as often. 

I set this post up for early May and then entirely forgot to post it. Oops! But, better late than never! 

In late April, the tree looked resplendent

For more beautiful cherry trees in bloom around Edinburgh see the posts below: 

Cherry Blossoms in Edinburgh's Meadows and Grange Cemetery.

Cherry blossoms in the grounds of Lauriston Castle. 

For Tree Following and Nature Notes.

Damsels at the Pond!

 I had read on Twitter, that someone had seen damselflies at Blackford Pond last week so Crafty Green Boyfriend and I went down there yesterday to see if we could find any. I didn't hold out much hope to be honest, thinking that these lovely insects might be few in number and hiding in the waterside vegetation. 

Thankfully, I was wrong! We saw at least twenty damselflies of at least two species and Crafty Green Boyfriend even got some photos of them! 

Most of the damselflies we saw were mostly dark with bright blue tails, we think these were all common blue tailed damselflies:

 

There was a smaller number of very blue damselflies, which I'm pretty sure were Common Blue Damselflies (Edited to add, I've since been told they're Azure Damselflies)

We enjoyed watching the damselflies and the various waterbirds  - the mute swans are still on their nest, and we saw the head of one cygnet! You're not supposed to take photos of nesting birds, so I don't have any to share. I can however, share a photo of the yellow flag irises that are currently in bloom

and we saw this caddis fly on the path 

 We then walked past Midmar Paddock 

 

The paddock is sadly threatened with development, it seems that a planning application for a care home and housing is about to be submitted. If you live in Edinburgh and want to protest this development, please follow Friends of Midmar Paddock on Facebook and Twitter to find out what you can do. 

Greater stitchwort was blooming in profusion

and we were delighted to see this green longhorn moth 

 

 We then walked into the Hermitage of Braid and walked along the Braid Burn

We noticed these weird looking cup fungi, if anyone can identify them to species level, we'd be most interested to know what they are!