Why Are Some Leaves Hairy?
Hairs protect a leaf from drying, cold and animals. They are common in spring. On many plants there are tiny hairs that trap a thin…
Tag: insects
Giant Viper’s-Bugloss and Natural Navigation
Giant Viper’s-Bugloss, Echium pininana, is a tall flowering plant in the borage family, native to La Palma in the Canary Islands. It shows a strong…
Predicting Animal Behaviour
It is much easier to predict animal behaviour when we learn certain simple patterns. Most animals see the world in terms of basic things like:…
Animal Weather Signs in Montana
My thanks to Dean for this very interesting pair of emails from dry cow country, Montana, USA: Tristan, I’m getting to the last fifty pages…
Finding Direction through Bird Nests in Termite Mounds
A guest blog post from Brazil, by Pedro and Gersony C.Jovchelevich. Termites are insects belonging to the order Isoptera, also known here in Brazil as…
How to Navigate Using Anthills
One of keys to reliable natural navigation is avoiding an obsession with tricks. It is nice when there is a fast, simple bullet-proof method for…
The Common or Dog Violet
The Common dog-violet – Viola riviniana – flowers in spring, from April to June. (The ‘dog’ part of the name refers to its lack of…
Nigerian Signs
Something a bit different today. My thanks to Chris McCosh, for coming on an Instructor’s Course in 2018, and for passing on his findings in…
How to Find Your Way with Butterflies
Butterflies can help us find our way, all we have to do is to take an interest in their habitats – and the fussier the…
Weather Forecasting with Bees
My thanks to Michael Adam, a bee keeper for contributing to the discussion about the relationship between bees and weather. After reading the page on…
The New Forest
My thanks to all who came to my talk at the Ringwood Travel Club last night. It would have been rude to have driven through…