Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 14/08/2026A quick stop in Glencoe on our way back to England produced masses of Whorled Carraway Trocdaris verticillatum not far from the Scottish Mountaineering Club hut. Lovely plant in a stunning setting. 1314
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Moss Campion Silene acaulis growing below The Needle on The Quiraing and Northern Bitter-cress Arabidopsis petraea on The Cuillin Ridge, Skye. I’ve not seen either since I last visited Rum over a decade ago. 0283
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Was passing the locus classicus for Pipewort Eriocaulon aquaticum on Skye so popped in to take a look. Lots growing in the pool but the yellow mass in the photo below appears to be uprooted plants growing happily together in a tangled mass. Quite extraordinary! 0134
Reposted by Kevin WalkerHelen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 28/06/2026I recently purchased at auction one of SR Badmin’s sketchbooks. I had to have it because I’d spotted that one of the pages contained a study for an illustration in the Ladybird book ‘Trees’. As close as I’ll probably ever come to owning original Nature series artwork 😊 2678978
Reposted by Kevin WalkerArable Emily @arableplants.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Happy Emily. This cultivated margin had it's time full of Thistles, Mugwort, Sterile Brome to name but a few. Now a sea of Cornsalads, Venus Looking glass, Rough Poppy & Night-flowering catchfly. Patience and attention to detail- topping, ploughing and working the soil has paid off. #itcanbedone 1466
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 06/06/2026Upper Wharfedale has a remarkable flora. In some places northern plants mix with those from further south. Here Dropwort Filipendula vulgaris and Horse-shoe Vetch Hippocrepis comosa growing happily alongside Blue-moor Grass Sesleria cearulea. 0342
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 31/05/2026‘Solution hollows’ on limestone pavement are a very rare habitat with a distinct assemblage of plants. On Ingleborough they are the main habitat of Arenaria norvegica subsp. anglica growing alongside Sabulina verna, Thymus drucei, Sedum villosum and a range of mosses including Tortella tortuosa 0325
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Nice to bump into a new population of Hairy Stonecrop Sedum villosum in Crook Gill, Wharfedale today. A specialist of flat limestone slabs with a thin crust of soil in the Yorkshire Dales, but uber rare with only a handful of large populations, most further west on Ingleborough. Pretty little thing. 0261
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 16/05/2026Lead mine spoil above Cote Gill in the Yorkshire Dales yesterday with the three ‘leadworts’; Spring Sandwort Sabulina verna, Alpine Penny-cress Noccaea cearulescens and Pyrenean Scurvy-grass Cochlearia pyrenaica. How they colonised these tiny fragments of habitat in is a complete mystery! 0356
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 04/05/2026Hi Jo, definitely go to Sulber when you go back. It’s an amazing place and lots of interest on the limestone pavements as well 110
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 03/05/2026Removed sheep in the early noughties and switched to extensive (premium beef) cattle. Both the grassland and limestone pavement Flora has responded very well, as well as inverts. There was a recent paper published on grassland changes 1101
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 02/05/2026Nice comparison between Spring and Yorkshire Sandworts on Ingleborough today. Spring Sandwort Sabulina verna has purple anthers and narrow leaves; Yorkshire Sandwort Arenaria norvegica subsp. anglica has yellow anthers and broad succulent leaves. Both on thin soils on limestone pavement 0304
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 02/05/2026I think we have a new grassland type! Bird’s-eye Primrose grassland on Sulber, Ingleborough today. The number of Primula farinosa in flower was jaw-dropping. Beautiful. I never dreamt this grassland could be this good when I first visited in 1995. Then just the odd Primula flowering in flushes 512513
Reposted by Kevin WalkerRichard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 20/04/202665 years of natural colonisation and natural woodland expansion at Monks Wood. Entirely self-sown by Jays, thrushes & wind; zero management: no planting, thinning or fencing. Oak-Ash canopy and Hawthorn-Blackthorn understorey dominate. Roe deer, Muntjac, Grey Squirrels haven't inhibited it. 110317
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 17/04/2026Two of Ingleborough’s finest flowers from today: Bird’s-eye Primrose Primula farinosa just coming into flower and a very early flowering Yorkshire Sandwort Arenaria norvegica subsp. anglica. Both on Sulber Pasture with Ingleborough brooding in the background. 0458
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 06/04/2026Annual pilgrimage to count Fritillaria meleagris at Aubert Ings SSSI, Cattal where it appeared c25 years ago. Numbers now c250. Tulipa sylvestris seems to be spreading too as has the statuesque Heracleum mategazzianum which is now well established all along the River Nidd downstream of Knaresborough 0242
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 03/04/2026As we were passing Wordsworth’s Point on Ulswater today we thought it would be rude to not stop and pay our respects to the Wild Daffodils (Narcissus pseudonarcissus). And a few nice ones in the cottage we were staying in too… 0181
Reposted by Kevin WalkerHelen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 03/04/2026In the orchard Artist: CF Tunnicliffe (The Farm, 1958) 228547
Reposted by Kevin WalkerNic Wilson @nicwilson.bsky.social · 03/04/2026What a joy to celebrate the county #flower of #Hertfordshire in my @theguardian.com country diary today. #naturewriting #countrydiarytheguardian.comCountry diary: The rise of the rare pasqueflower is my Easter miracle | Nic WilsonTherfield Heath, Hertfordshire: Soft and felty beyond belief, these springtime tremblers are also highly scarce – yet here are tens of thousands of them 87724
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 29/03/2026Some non-natives along the Oak Beck, Harrogate yesterday: Purple Toothwort, Caucasian Pennycress, and American Skunk-cabbage. These spread along streams from RHS Harlow Carr. Our paper in British & Irish Botany discusses their spread and implications for management of invasives in gardens. 1203
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 24/03/2026Definitely a more dynamic system! We saw 100s of metres of snuffle lines in a wood in Norfolk… 020
Reposted by Kevin WalkerNic Wilson @nicwilson.bsky.social · 09/03/2026In today's @theguardian.com country diary, Susie White checks out Newcastle's urban plants with James Common, whose new book - Urban Flora of Newcastle and North Tyneside - is out today! commonbynature.com/urban-flora-... @bsbibotany.bsky.social #countrydiary #naturewritingtheguardian.comCountry diary: A riverside walk reveals the city’s history written in plants | Susie WhiteLower Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne: Under boardwalks, in concrete, on window ledges, seeds borne by water and carried on feet survive 13612
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 09/03/2026Take some climbing ropes. It’s very steep and slippy! 240
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 09/03/2026Doesn’t seem to be as it completes its lifecycle before the Impatiens takes off. My observations along the Ure suggest that it is usually in areas where the Impatiens has to recolonise due to flooding so keeps its numbers down although obvs it may have simply gone from majorly infested areas 010
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 08/03/2026Here in Yorkshire we’re about 2-3 weeks away from flowering 120
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 08/03/2026Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem Gagea lutea along the River Ure yesterday for #WildflowerHour 1677
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 17/02/2026In London for a few days a bumped into Mediterranean (Roman) Nettle Urtica membranacea in Walthamstow. Not a species I’ve seen before but unmistakable with those long linear inflorescences! #urbanbotany 1310
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 17/02/2026I noticed that too. Mackenzie Crook is a birder / really good bird artist with a nice picture in the BTOs Red 65? I wondered about contacting him about doing a follow on based on a botanical club (rather than Detectorists). I wonder which society he might choose? Material would be similar! 040
Reposted by Kevin WalkerHelen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 15/02/2026“Snow has fallen again, as it will sometimes do in February” What to Look for in Winter, 1959 Artist: CF Tunnicliffe Writer: EL Grant Watson 537267
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 15/02/2026To me a more important point about reintroductions is that they shouldn’t divert our ambition/attention from conserving what we’ve already got. That is more mundane day-to-day work/less attention grabbing but absolutely vital not least so introductions have healthy ecosystems in which to thrive. 0130
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 15/02/2026One of best sites I know is a drumlin that was unsuccessfully ‘gripped’ for drainage. SWO regenerated in huge numbers on the overturned mineral soils. Similar habitat on Straloch Moraines in Scotland (but more natural disturbance there) 240
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 15/02/2026I think maybe a bit more complicated than just grazing. To me this seems more an early successional species adapted to raw mineral soils in the Arctic (moraines, eskers, exposed riverbanks, etc. mires/flushed grassland is the nearest we have these close quickly in absence of disturbance (grazing!) 140
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 11/02/2026It is an increasing garden escape in northern England and spreading by bulbils along rivers where it can form very dense stands on sandy riverbanks disturbed during winter floods. Along the Oak Beck where this study took place there are 10s of 1000s of plants and it seems to be increasing each year 010
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 10/02/2026Been listening to Cinder Well all day. The same happened to me with Johnny Flynn and The Detectorists… 010
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 10/02/2026The escape of ornamental plants from large gardens can pose a threat to native species and habitats. Here we provide evidence for this in riparian habitats near to Harrogate UK and discuss the lessons for managing potentially invasive species in gardens. britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bi... 2294
Reposted by Kevin WalkerMarkus Wagner @wagnermarkus.bsky.social · 03/02/2026Our Biological Flora on Wood Crane's-bill is out in @journalofecology.bsky.social. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... A team effort w/ @ruthsk.bsky.social @sandravarga.bsky.social @spp-rich.bsky.social @duncanwestbury.bsky.social, irina Tatarenko & artist Lucy Hulmes on pen and ink.besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.comBiological Flora of Britain and Ireland: Geranium sylvaticum*Geranium sylvaticum is a perennial forb of upland grasslands, woodlands and riverbanks in northern Britain, with scattered native occurrences also in Wales, central England and Northern Ireland. It h... 67526
Reposted by Kevin WalkerJono Leadley @birdingdad.bsky.social · 04/02/2026Bishopthorpe Parish Council want to sell a small wildlife oasis hosting rare wildflowers like Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem to a developer. This field belongs to the people of Bish who cherish its wildlife. Please sign this petition to stop them doing this. Thanks 😊 c.org/syGKBRcGBY 1037087
Reposted by Kevin WalkerRichard Morris @ahistoryinart.bsky.social · 26/01/2026Painted in 1913, Paul Nash gave this picture the ultimate simplicity of a title, 'A Drawing.' The elm trees marked the boundary of his family's home at Wood Lane House, Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire. Trees always held a spiritual quality for him. 119540
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 27/01/2026I love that such a rare bird was secondary to the plant! 0192
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 30/11/2025Male Holly has been flowering here in Northern England for a few weeks; lots of trees have buds that have yet to open. Apparently not uncommon to have a second flowering late in the year but the first time I’ve noticed it 110
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 30/11/2025Surely ‘normal for Norfolk’? 🤣 That’s a term I use a lot in our household! 110
Reposted by Kevin WalkerBotanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) @bsbibotany.bsky.social · 18/09/2025We're hiring! Could you help us support & grow the community of botanists across Northern Ireland? Manage our @daera-ni.gov.uk-funded Botanical Skills Training Project? Help boost participation in @npms.bsky.social across NI? Please apply by midnight this Sunday, 21 Sept: bsbi.org/botanical-sk...bsbi.org 02120
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 23/08/2025Glad you made it to Imber! Stunning location and amazing grassland for miles around on each side 020
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 28/07/2025Garden Parsley Petroselinum crispum gone to seed? 120
Reposted by Kevin WalkerMarkus Wagner @wagnermarkus.bsky.social · 14/07/2025How Wales’s National Botanic Garden came back from the brink www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... "Upcoming priorities include an ambitious project aimed at reversing Welsh-native flora decline, safeguarding Wales’s 58 endemic species from habitat loss, and creating a living native plant collection."theguardian.comThe other millennium dome: how Wales’s National Botanic Garden came back from the brinkSite had to be saved from closure after visitor slump in 00s but is now a thriving biodiversity success story 0103
Reposted by Kevin WalkerLukas Large @lukaslarge.bsky.social · 14/07/2025Nature book challenge. A book per in no particular order, until you've s ALL of the best nature books in you personal library. No explanations, no reviews, #Books #Nature #Naturewriting #naturebooks #conservation #naturebookchallenge #booksky 0111
Kevin Walker @bsbiscience.bsky.social · 21/06/2025We saw lots of Carex aquatilis when we went ‘off piste’ to get to serpentine outcrops and didn’t Matt Harding find lots of Carex rariflora on slopes just beyond outcrops last year? You can see I like sedges can’t you! Also Cerastium fontanum subsp. scoticum 110