When we visited the Botanics this weekend for the Big Garden Birdwatch, we took a moment to look at this beautiful exhibition by Scottish glass artist Siobhan Healy. The delicate transparent glass flowers in the exhibition are haunting evocations of this very rare flower, the fragility of the medium reflecting the fragility of the plant in the wild.
The ghost orchid was declared extinct in the UK in 2005 but was amazingly rediscovered in 2009!
This exhibition has now closed in Edinburgh, but apparently (and information is contradictory on this) will be on display at the Blaschka Gallery of Glass Flowers at Harvard Museum of Natural History until 4 March 2012. Well worth seeing if you get the chance!
Plantlife, the UK charity for plant conservation has recently put together a Ghost Orchid Declaration outlining the key issues for wild plant conservation and some potential solutions.
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Monday, 30 January 2012
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Big Garden Birdwatch
It's the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch today and tomorrow! We don't have much of a garden ourselves and can't see it from any of our windows. So we decided to go to Inverleith Park and The Royal Botanic Gardens to record our birds there. The biggest birds we saw were mute swans (though we also saw two grey herons up a tree!). This swan was particularly co-operative.
I was particularly pleased to see siskins in the Botanics, they're such a lovely species, the male is very handsome. We didn't get any photos of the siskins or any of the other smaller birds. This squirrel though was eager to pose.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks which take you to other websites where you can find out more.
I was particularly pleased to see siskins in the Botanics, they're such a lovely species, the male is very handsome. We didn't get any photos of the siskins or any of the other smaller birds. This squirrel though was eager to pose.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks which take you to other websites where you can find out more.
Friday, 27 January 2012
And the winners are....
Not having a trained rabbit to pick out names from a hat, I asked Crafty Green Boyfriend to pick the winners of the recent giveaway. So, the winners of the kits for making fat cakes for garden birds are:
Michelle May of Raspberry Rabbits
Deb G of bee creative
Bunnits of Art in the Wind
Christina of Rabid Tidbits
madhat of madhat's musings
Magyar of Magyar Haiku
The human of Little Fluffy Adventures
EG Wow of East Gwillimbury WOW (Daily Photo)
and Facebook friends Emma and Jane.
I've contacted all the winners for their addresses, which I will pass on to Yorkshire Water who will then send out the prizes directly.
Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to Yorkshire Water for donating the prizes! If you are a winner, I would be interested in hearing how your birds enjoy the fat cakes!
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Cleaning up the Mess
I had a chilly walk around Cramond, at the mouth of the River Almond today. The light was stunning and there were loads of oystercatchers around and some other birds too (though not as many as usual).
It was quite littered in places, so I'm glad to know that Cramond is one of the locations in the Marine Conservation Society Beachwatch clean ups this weekend (28 January). They're encouraging people to join in to clean up the mess that is often found on many of our beaches. Joining in is not only a great way to do your bit for conservation but is great exercise and generally a very sociable experience! You can find your nearest event here.
You can also sign up now for the Keep Scotland Beautiful annual Spring Clean campaign. Choose a day between 1 April and 31 May, get together with some friends and set out to clean up the litter in a place near you!
The Water of Leith Conservation Trust is always on the look out for volunteers to help with their annual clean-ups (and with many other tasks!) - you can find out more here.
Meanwhile, a reminder that there is still time to enter the recent giveaway to win kits for making fat cakes for your garden birds. You just need to comment on this post! I'll choose the winners later today! Thanks to Yorkshire Water for providing the prizes!
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
It was quite littered in places, so I'm glad to know that Cramond is one of the locations in the Marine Conservation Society Beachwatch clean ups this weekend (28 January). They're encouraging people to join in to clean up the mess that is often found on many of our beaches. Joining in is not only a great way to do your bit for conservation but is great exercise and generally a very sociable experience! You can find your nearest event here.
You can also sign up now for the Keep Scotland Beautiful annual Spring Clean campaign. Choose a day between 1 April and 31 May, get together with some friends and set out to clean up the litter in a place near you!
The Water of Leith Conservation Trust is always on the look out for volunteers to help with their annual clean-ups (and with many other tasks!) - you can find out more here.
Meanwhile, a reminder that there is still time to enter the recent giveaway to win kits for making fat cakes for your garden birds. You just need to comment on this post! I'll choose the winners later today! Thanks to Yorkshire Water for providing the prizes!
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Antarctica by Kim Stanley Robinson
This novel published in 1998 is set in an imagined Antarctica of the early twenty-first century
There is an odd feeling of reading about a future that isn't quite the future but nor is it the present that it's somehow supposed to be. Other than that though, this is an excellent piece of speculative fiction - gripping and meticulously researched (Robinson spent time in Antarctica as part of the US Antarctic Program's Artist and Writer Program).
This is an Antarctica fought over by African oil companies and eco terrorists while scientists continue their studies and an international group of 'ferals' try to develop an indigenous way of life on the continent. Meanwhile Val leads groups of tourists on extreme adventures, recreating the journeys of the original polar explorers. Stories of these explorers intercut the narrative in a very effective manner, giving the reader a sense of the real history of the continent.
The narrative is very intense in places, there are long passages outlining scientific experiments, political manoeverings and an expedition that Val leads, which doesn't go to plan.
The technology is worked into the narrative really well, wristwatch computers, recordings a trek participant makes for TV-masks and the intelligent fabrics that everyone's clothes are made from. Similarly the ideas around the ferals' construction of a potentially permanent way of life are well explored.
It's a compelling read and one that makes the reader think deeply about the future of the world's last great wilderness. And as this month marks the centenary of Scott's failed expedition to reach the South Pole, what better time to read this book?
Antarctica by Kim Stanley Robinson published by Voyager
I reviewed this book for Brighton Blogger's 2012 Reading Challenge. I also reviewed The Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman by Friedrich Christian Delius.
There is an odd feeling of reading about a future that isn't quite the future but nor is it the present that it's somehow supposed to be. Other than that though, this is an excellent piece of speculative fiction - gripping and meticulously researched (Robinson spent time in Antarctica as part of the US Antarctic Program's Artist and Writer Program).
This is an Antarctica fought over by African oil companies and eco terrorists while scientists continue their studies and an international group of 'ferals' try to develop an indigenous way of life on the continent. Meanwhile Val leads groups of tourists on extreme adventures, recreating the journeys of the original polar explorers. Stories of these explorers intercut the narrative in a very effective manner, giving the reader a sense of the real history of the continent.
The narrative is very intense in places, there are long passages outlining scientific experiments, political manoeverings and an expedition that Val leads, which doesn't go to plan.
The technology is worked into the narrative really well, wristwatch computers, recordings a trek participant makes for TV-masks and the intelligent fabrics that everyone's clothes are made from. Similarly the ideas around the ferals' construction of a potentially permanent way of life are well explored.
It's a compelling read and one that makes the reader think deeply about the future of the world's last great wilderness. And as this month marks the centenary of Scott's failed expedition to reach the South Pole, what better time to read this book?
Antarctica by Kim Stanley Robinson published by Voyager
I reviewed this book for Brighton Blogger's 2012 Reading Challenge. I also reviewed The Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman by Friedrich Christian Delius.
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