Update: Plants & Insects (obviously)

Hello, no one in particular.

I haven't written in a while, but I thought I should just to keep the record straight.

Last month me and my brother took a long awaited trip the Highlands. The video says it all (2 parts due to an video error).

I'm continuing to develop a fascination for insects (I may have a dissertation idea related to entomology/decomposition), but I've also really become interested in anatomy as reflected by the many drawings I've done and a recent sculpture I just completed. On the study front, I recently finished the books Why People Need Plants & The Wisdom of Trees and have bought a little insect guide for future reference. So it's all going good there. Just waiting for year 2 of the BSc to come around. And big news, just this minute found out about a website called In Defense of Plants, a website/blog run by a PhD student in ecology. He also happens to run a 100+ episode podcast with eminent ecologists and others in related fields. And there is an episode on Middle Earth flora. I couldn't be happier. Not sure how I didn't know about this...

Cheers.

T.

Ps. Sometimes I forget I've had this blog since 2013. Shocking.

Dartmoor Trip & Other Things

Hello. Haven't posted in a while as I've been busy with the course and various hobbies.


Went to Dartmoor as part of the degree. I'll put some photos up later, but for now I'll just summarise what I saw


Wistmans Wood - Finally went to Wistman's Wood. Always wanted to go. It's my sort of place. Lots of Sessile Oaks. Very Fangorn-esque. Learnt a lot and speculated about the ecology of the forest. Took some nice photos of the epiphytic ferns and lichens.


Haytor - Did a Phase 1 Habitat Survey exercise here. Learnt about the landscape/land-use and investigated the various species, features and habitats in the area.


Torquay - Did an inform walked plant ID test & some rock pooling


Bellever Tor - Did an NVC exercise here.

Aside from that, not much else. Did an assignment based on this trip and revised some more. Three exams next week, nearly all in a row.


When I've had time I've been drawing some plants and varied plant related fantasy things (mostly ents/onodrim). Just nothing better than botany in terms of aesthetics, ecology and cultural significance. Still thinking of various botanical projects, but haven't landed on one yet.


T.

Blog Redesign

Gather roond the birkin tree...

I've had the idea of creating a new blog (probably on a more modern platform like Wordpress) for a while now, something to do with botany in particular. But I decided I couldn't leave this one behind as it's been going for quite a few years now. As you can see (my one or two readers) I've decided to spruce up the design a little. It feels a lot more... botanical. The blog has a new URL and title too: The Birkin Tree. Named after the Scots word for birch and a song from the Old Blind Dogs, a Scottish folk band.  It's not big news, but I feel like I need to nail my colours to the mast in my fascination with botany. What I mean to say is, I've slowly come to the realisation that plants are indeed my favourite thing. I mean they are aesthetically pleasing, they have endlessly fascinating evolutionary adaptations, they are culturally important and we depend on them entirely for our very survival in oxygen, food, clothing and more. I just decided to reflect that a bit more with this new design and blog title.

I'm currently writing a report on floral heterostyly in Primula vulgaris and enjoying the challenge with some of the most obscure botanical/genetic terms. I've also been thinking of doing something for this blog, something botanical. I quite like the idea of cataloging all the plants I've seen and just generally taking more photos and notes on them. We shall see.

T. 

BSc Year 1 Progress

Hello. Haven't posted  in a while.

Degree's going well, but (as expected) the workload is increasing swiftly. I've done an evolutionary essay and hedgerow survey report as my formative work, and an essay on boreal forest organisations remits, and a substantial academic portfolio so far for my summative. We've had a few proper lab sessions doing chromatography, pigment/water spectrophotometry and soil analysis. Soon I'll be on a work placement at Lindsay Carrington Ecological Services which is great since I've gotten pretty tired of making fences and doing odd jobs under a ranger. I'll be there for about 4 weeks so it's quite a big undertaking. Apparently I'll be helping with some phase 1 and bat reports. As part of the 'Academic Skills' unit, I've to work on an independent project, which I've chosen to do on wood ants and the vital habitat requirements to sustain their populations in the Caledonian Pinewood ecosystem. It's only secondary research, but I like the fact that I'm allowed to choose my own topic. I'm also becoming increasingly interested in entomology. I did a journal club presentation about late and early Quercus robur phenoforms and the use of late leaf flushing as defence against the winter month Operophtera brumata. So, yes, when I (hopefully) get to year 3, my dissertation will most likely be on  a plant-insect relationship.

Taylor.

Started BSc at Sparsholt

Hello again.

So, another three years at Sparsholt. I'll have done half a decade's worth of study in ecology and countryside management by the time I (hopefully) graduate. And I'll be 26-27. It's going well so far, although it's only been two weeks. Having done 2 years ecology prior to the course it's a little basic, but I fully expect it to get more challenging. I've finished the first draft of a formative induction hedge survey report and have just started the second formative assessment, an essay on Darwin's finches.

We'll see how it goes...

T.

Reading & Insects

Hello, all. I'm on my break before the degree starts in September (hopefully - still waiting for student loan to be processed). I've started a new wave of reading. I recently finished Unweaving the Rainbow by Prof. Dawkins, then Letters to a Young Scientist by Prof. Wilson. Yesterday I picked up The Social Conquest of Earth by Wilson having enjoyed the latter book and his writing style. All within the space of about two weeks.

Another recent development is I've been thinking about focusing in on another biological/ecological domain, that of the insects. In terms of animals for me it was always the characteristic megafauna, mammals such as Siberian tigers and Eurasian wolves, but as I've studied ecology over the past 2 years (and for the many years on my own before starting college) I've gradually become a more and more fascinated in the little guys, the ones that do all the work. I'm the sort of person that likes to focus on a particular thing. Botany was, and still is, that thing. Although, of course, I find all of biological diversity intrinsically interesting (who wouldn't?). I find that I just gravitate towards certain things.

I was never really intensely interested in insects, although I appreciated their role in ecology. In these last few days, probably after I read E O Wilson and caught his infectious enthusiasm for ants, something just clicked in my mind that I really should spend time understanding insect ecology, their life histories and evolutionary chronologies. I just like the idea of gravitating to one or two things and focusing on them (as well as absorbing other information) so that I can understand them in more detail as opposed to just broad swathes all the time. It's like nailing one's colours to the mast, I suppose. It makes sense, the flowering plants co-evolved with insects about 65 million years ago during the late Cretaceous. Plants and insects literally go together. I could extend this to all terrestrial arthropods, but I'm not so keen on arachnids for some reason, although that doesn't mean they aren't equally as interesting. Myriapods are interesting though.

I feel like insects are a new and exciting realm for me. I know what they do in terms of broad ecological processes and principles, but I've never really sat down and said, "right, I'm going to focus on the insecta and just learn more about them for curiosity's sake", that sort of thing. We'll see how it goes.

Taylor.

Scotland College Study Trip

Back hame once more, again in June, but for only 1 week instead of 3. Here's a summary. Apologies in advance for no animal photos as most of the sightings were glimpses and I have a phone camera.

Sunday we went to the Highland Wildlife Park and had a guided tour around the place and discussed the arguments for and against species reintroductions into Scotland. This was good as I'd been to the park before, but felt more informed going away. Unfortunately I "lost" my phone, so I didn't take any photos but I loved watching the Amur Tigers, as always, and of course the wolves although there was only wolf wandering its enclosure this time. It was just good to go round with college mates and go back to familiar places. Then we went to the lovely Loch Insh where we sat and watched Ospreys flying overhead for a good hour or so, as well as walking around the loch to find many orchids and other wonderful plants (a highlight for me). Then we went on a late afternoon stroll up Craigellachie behind the hostel at which we were staying. That was probably the fullest day of the lot as the weather started turning...

Loch Insh 

Early Purple Orchid at Loch Insh

Heath Spotted Orchid at Loch Insh

On the way up the Craigellachie trail 

Cairn on Craigellachie

Lochan next to the cairn

Lecturer looking at montane flora

Monday we went up to Cairngorm and had a talk from one of the rangers at the base about the geology and conditions on the mountain, as well as the recreations side of things. I think the first time I went to Cairngorm I'd seen it in passing but I enjoyed walking through the montane garden they have with notes on the ecology of mountain and moorland plants. I'd never walked around Cairngrom so luckily we went on a walk up one of the paths and got a good ways up before having to come down (due to mixed fitness levels and low visibility). Amazingly the small group who decided to carry on up higher, myself included, glimpsed a ptarmigan. Others had seen red grouse during the course of the hike, but I never did manage to spot one. The hike took the energy out of a lot of people, so that was the end of Monday.

Interp 1

Interp 2

Catching sight of a Ptarmigan at the end of the Cairngorm hike

Think I enjoyed Tuesday the most as it was my beloeved Abernethy and their was a talk by Ian Perks, head warden, a nice guy and very knowledgeable. Had a lovely long walk through the old woods and saw none other than a capercaille in flight! So in regards to birds I've seen Dotterel on Creag Meagaidh, Osprey at Loch Insh (and a few other places), Ptarmigan on Cairngorm and Capercaille at Abernethy.

Walking with lecturers and Ian Perk, Warden for Abernethy

Lovely woods as always

Discussing management of the woods and surrounding landscape

Loch Garten. Need I say more?

Wednesday was a bit of a shame as it poured it down and we had to carry out a contingency plan. The day was mostly about  interpretation so we went to Glenmore Forest Park and saw some of the signage there, most of which I'd already seen. Then we did a lovely walk in the pouring rain with almost no visibility from Allt Mor, I believe, all the way up to Cairngorm again. Then we dried off, took the funicular up to the Cairngorm Plateau and had a look at the excellent interpretation there too.

Glenmore interp

Powerful overflowing river on the trail makes for an interesting contrast to lazy chalk streams of England

Nice bit of interp at Cairngorm Plateau base

Thursday we saw dolphins. Lots of them. It was planned for Wesdnesday but the weather was too bad. We were glad we changed the date as it worked out well. Went out with Ecoventure in RIBs on the Moray Firth and saw tons of dolphins. Unfortunaley I missed the seabird colonies due to raging sea sickness, but that cleared quickly. Thankfully the dolphin spotting was good enough to make me forget about it.

 Spot where we first watched some dolphins breach the waters and also some sea birds before going on the boats. 

Going out on to the Moray Firth in a RIB

Thanks for reading.

Update for May

And then I remembered I had a blog...

Conservation diploma is almost over with just a few more assignments left. Going back up to Scotland in June (interesting how I also went back June of last year) but this time it'll be for a week as part of an upland ecology field trip. Very much looking forward to that and I'll be uploading photos here. The itinerary looks great. I'll also be the only Scotsman in the group. So special.

I've just been tidying a few things up, getting the last bits of work done, going out to a few woods and learning a lot. In the past few days ecological/evolutionary simulations have taken my interest and I found out about the old SimLife game. Never knew anything like that existed. Plant evolution is definitely a budding interesting of mine, it seems. Oh, no... "Budding". Sorry.

Looking forward to the summer. I think I've done about 60 assignments over 2 years. If all goes according to plan I should start the BSc in September.

T.

Quick Update: February 2016

Still chugging away at year 2 of the old conservation diploma. Finished my 2nd work placement at Avon Heath. Coming to the end of the course as I believe there's only maybe 12 teaching weeks left, possibly fewer. Nothing remarkable in terms of college at the minute, but finished the freshwater and coastal units. Still on the chainsaw, greenwood crafts, deer ecology and management, and a few others. I was going to take the environmental interpretation unit however I decided just to switch it out for livestock management. Looking forward to the ecological concepts and applications unit which should be starting soon. What else? Nope. Mostly just coursework. Oh, after having dropped the Ecology of Plants book I've picked it up again and slowly mlaking my way through a sea of formulas and BSc/MSc wordage.

Well, spent a lot of time in the New Forest the past few weeks and generally watching a lot of good documentaries, mostly Attenborough. Went to revisit Langley Wood NNR today, without thinking how early it is for wildflowers yet. Give me AWIs! One good thing is that it reminded me that for some reason I never got my own Francis Rose so I just bought one today. Probably a good idea to finally buy the industry standard on pant I.D, eh?

Year 2 So Far

Hello all. I haven't posted in a while as I've been busy working away at year 2 coursework. Units I'm currently taking are the management of fresh water, coastal and farm habitats. Also doing units on deer management, livestock, chainsaw (CS30) and greenwood crafts. After Christmas I believe we'll be starting the ecological applications unit I'm looking forward to, as well as environmental interpretation and urban habitat ecology. 

Some highlights: haven't done much practical work but we have spent a lot more time outdoors already for the various units, such as undertaking a River Habitat Survey at Stockbridge Marsh. Went to a talk as part of the course from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust on their Waders for Real project. The chainsaw unit is going pretty good and I've surprised myself if I'm being honest, since I never thought I could wield one without chopping off an extremity. Got to wrestle some Wiltshire horn recently as part of the livestock unit. Also slowly getting back into woodcraft since it's part of the course, which is good as I pretty much put that on halt. So far the year has gone alright and grades are consistent with last year. Hoping to aim for  D* at the end of everything. 

At the start of January I'll be doing my second work placement, this time a bit closer to home at Avon Heath Country Park. 

I've applied for ecology at Bournemouth uni, but the likelihood is I'll be doing the degree at Sparsholt which is fine by me. There's just a lot of pros and cons to weigh up. 

Cheers.

Taylor. 

Year 2

Hello, all.

I've been busy as I'm on year 2 of my conservation diploma. I believe it's week 4 so far. Already completed 2 large survey report assignments, one on coastal habitat characteristics (shingle and saltmarsh), and the other a detailed look at the college's lake (lentic ecology, habitat characteristics, chemical composition, and so forth). Currently working on a report on changes to the agricultural landscape, discussing policies and impacts.

Been out to Studland twice now, looking at a range of coastal habitats and doing some walk-up and NVC surveys. Also went to Hayling Island for the coastal unit.

Going well so far, I think. Got my second work placement already sorted out for January, ahead on assignments and also written my personal statement for degree ahead of schedule and almost finished application.

Quick Update for August

Plant Ecology book arrived recently. It's pretty colossal and has plant ecology covered. 540 pages of in-depth plant ecology, covering individual physiological stresses to community distribution, to global ecological patterns, paleoecology, climate change and so forth. Will take some time to read, but looks very in-depth. Quite a lot of the subjects I already understand, but this goes into degree level detail, which is good, especially with statistical analysis and formulae. I'm sure I'll struggle with the formulas as I find basic math difficult and most likely has dycalculia, but I'll slowly get my head around it I hope. 

I've also become increasingly interested in the age of enlightenment and voyages of scientific discovery as I'm just fascinated and inspired by the very idea of discovering new land and with it new fauna and flora especially. Become very interested in the Scottish botanist Robert Brown, spending a good while reading about his life and work and some of his early papers,

Another thing I've been doing. So regrettably I never took biology or chemistry or any other science at school for that matter, instead spending my time on useless computer skills... However, I've just acquired a very entry level microscope and I have to say I'm thoroughly enjoying seeing the structures about which I've been reading up close and personal. Even though it's a very weak digital microscope and more akin to just a macro zoom on a camera, I'm just fascinated by it. Geranium robertianum here showing stigma and stamen.

I'm also continuing with drawing and will post here soon.

Cheers

TH.

Botany Studies

Hi, all.

Following my decision to focus on botanical illustration, I decided to relearn some of what I knew about plant structures and also learn a lot more about their inner workings. As I actually would like to train to become a plant ecologist/botanist it's not really enough to just what I see: I actually want to know how they work. It's quite a great pairing this, the fusion of botanical/ecological study with art practice. Of course, I'm not really going to be drawing or painting the internal structures of plants to the degree that I've featured here, but from a scientific point of view it's much needed knowledge. I find drawing things and turning them into diagrams really helps in remembering how things work. You can see I attempted to shade the flower on top left, but I decided to just jot things down thereafter. The goal of this first page was just to familiarise myself with basic/intermediary botany instead of showing any real artistic skill.

So now that I've drawn some plant parts (mostly reproductive - I've missed out bark characteristics, leaf shapes, and fruit types here - there's so much to cover) I'll think I'll go ahead and start on a few case studies and actually get to drawing and colouring some plants as accurately as possible.

Thanks.

Botanical Drawing

I have tried plenty of hobbies over the years, but I find that only one or two really stick. I've always drawn and there are times I become focused on drawing, but mostly I just draw when I feel like it. Nowadays I draw mostly landscapes and work on cartography. I've always liked the idea of botanical drawing and have tried to come up with my own fantastatical creations. After some thinking, I've decided to refocus on drawing, specifically of the botanical variety. It goes hand in hand with my ecological studies as well as just being good practice.

My goal is to have a good catalogue of drawings of many of Britain's plant species, but also world wide too. I might try my hand at water colour in the near future, which is something I've never really attempted, but I know it's the preferred medium. In fact the last time I used paint was in school, 6 years and a half years ago. So yes, I'm definitely interested in using traditional methods.

Will probably update this blog with a new drawing at least once every few days, seeing as right now I have a lot of free time.

Edit: I'm also editing and rearranging my Youtube channel as I will be uploading a vlog on my progress in botanical/landscape art, as well as continuing with cartography.

Creag Meagaidh NNR

Hello all. I've been on work placement for 3 weeks in Scotland at Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve. Instead of uploading every single photo again for my blog, I thought I should just link to my thread on BCUK which covers everything already.

At the Summit of Creag Meagaidh 

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=132557

Thanks for looking.

Taylor.

Sarithus' Cartography

Seeing as this is a blog about all things nature or landscape related, I thought I'd give a shout-out to my brother's excellently produced fantasy maps at Sarithus Maps: Artistic Cartography (www.sarithus.com). Not that he needs the attention from this tiny blog; he's practically famous for his 'Clichea' map.

He also does inexpensive commissions.

Cheers.

Plants and Their History

Old photo of a majestic Oak in Stansted Forest, Hampshire

Hello, all.

Decided a few days ago that I want to focus on botany as my main interest. Woodland ecology has always been my favourite area of study and indeed whenever I go to a natural history museum I seem to just be drawn to exhibits on the Carboniferous and so forth! I want to try and focus more on tree and wild flower ecology/biology and learn as much as I can on the subject. I'm not so interested in artificial horticultural varieties, more so the ecology and history of vascular plants. At the high end of spectrum I'd say I'm most interested in dabbling in either palaeobotany or archaeobotany. There's also ethnobotany though this has less of a historic spin. I'm undecided which one I'm most intrigued by as they are all interesting but very different in that one focuses on very early climatic climax vegetation and the other two deal in plagioclimax vegetation and its utilitarian use in different timescales. I just know I want to study and focus on plants and their history in some way, but I'm only at the superficial entry level at the moment.

So yes, I've been focusing on plants a lot more (and am currently reading the in-depth Trees: their natural history by Peter Thomas.). I've been toying with the idea of making a separate blog and documenting trees or flowers of some historic, ecological or purely aesthetic significance. In other words, I quite like the idea of going round taking photos of plants. We'll see where it goes. 

Cheers. 

Ecology and Conservation Vlog 2

Hello, all. Back at college after 3 weeks away, enjoying the sunshine. In this short video I discuss woodland plant I.D and upcoming assignments this spring. Hope you enjoy.

Langley Wood NNR

Hello all. Had a great couple of hours out in the New Forest. Chose Langley Wood NNR in the north and it was a great choice. Large semi-natural ancient woodland, littered with AWIs of course, and all round beautiful prime Oak woodland. You don't get much better than that. Very interesting few hours... Maybe fifteen minutes in I saw what I'd never seen before, a whole stampede of what looked like Fallow deer. I'm not exaggerating when I say there were at least 30-40 of them on the move through the woods at once. Sadly I never got a photo. Great moment though. There was a hide in an open area of the wood where we found a dead fox. Not entirely sure why it was placed there. The woodland itself was just spectacular, rivaling many of the woods I've seen before. Bluebells, Primrose, Dog's Mercury, Ground Ivy, Wood Sorrel, Common Dog Violet (may have been Early Dog Violet, though I'm not sure), Wood Spurge, Wood Anemone and much more were out. Went to Fritham and had a quick drink at the Royal Oak before going home.

Here are a few of the best photos.