The Meaning of Tree Branches
In nature, shapes are stories. There are always a hundred stories in every tree, because there are a hundred branches, each with its own tale…
Tag: south
Which Way Are We Walking? Ibiza Edition
Which direction are we walking in the video below? Hint…There are clues in the sun, plants and water. Answer… Spoiler alert… The sun is mid-height,…
Tree Trunks Lean Away From Buildings
Tree trunks lean away from the shade of buildings and towards the light. This habit tends to override the normal biases towards southern light, because…
Which Way Are We Looking?
I took this photo in the South Downs a few days ago. Which direction are we looking? North, East, South or West? And Why? Struggling?…
Autumn Appears First in High Southern Leaves
Autumn / Fall appears first in the highest leaves on the warmer southern side of the tree. More on this and other seasonal signs in…
Texas Creosote Bush
My thanks to Dan Acosta for the following very interesting email and permission to share: Hi Tristan, I was in the Chihuahuan desert at Big…
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…
Morning or Afternoon in Lyme Regis?
I recently took this photo in Lyme Regis, Dorset, on the south coast of England. But what time of day was the picture taken, morning…
Sirius is South at Midnight on New Year’s Eve
The brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, will be due south at midnight on New Year’s Eve. This is true every year.* Depending on…
Why does the Gnomon on a Sundial Point South?
The pointy bit of a sundial is called a ‘gnomon’. It is the part that casts the shadow and in the northern hemisphere it points…
Which Way Are We Looking? Golden Edition
Which direction are we looking in this photo taken in West Sussex, southeast UK? North, East, South or West? It’s a tough one. There are…
The Meaning of Bluebells
The bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) is a perennial bluish-purple bell-shaped wildflower of the Lily family (Liliaceae). It is a European plant, common in the British Isles.…
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…
Dawn Chorus Going Global
There will be an international collaborative radio dawn chorus programme going out on BBC Radio 4 from about 1am UK time tonight. It runs until…
Snowdrops – Galanthus nivalis
Galanthophiles will have spotted that the snowdrops are out. The ones near me are showing a strong preference for pointing south. The direction flowers point…
Snow and Gorse
It is that time of year when we get to enjoy snow and ice natural navigation clues. In the south of England there hasn’t been…
Daisies Pointing South
A nice example of daisies pointing south. Seen from above this effect is often hard to spot, but when our eyes are level with the…
Credit where it’s due… in the Chianti vineyards
I end a lot of my courses, walks and talks with the joke, “You’ve now unwittingly signed up to be part of my extended research…
Lavender – lavandula
Lavender enjoys full bright sunlight, so it will not be found on the north side of walls, trees or anything else throwing lots of shade.…
Deducing Direction from Dog Defecation
This is not an April Fool’s post. Instead this is about the most extraordinary piece of research that I have come across in many years…
Chichester
I took this photo in Chichester the other day, at midday. Chichester has four main streets, North, East, South and West. (A fairly appropriate home…