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…
Tag: Sun
Ants Build Landmarks
Humans are so accustomed to using landmarks that we usually don’t even realise when we are doing it. “Turn left at the post office.” “Meet…
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…
Quite Frankly Navigating with Nature Interview
Really enjoyed this chat about navigating with nature with Frank Val of Quite Frankly podcast. It was a wide-ranging chat and we covered a lot…
Reading Trees for Navigation – A Tip
I recently returned from a natural navigation exercise in the New Forest, Hampshire. On leaving a patch of woodland I was reminded of a common…
June Solstice Question
Happy Solstice! Time to celebrate with a micro puzzle… If you walked towards sunrise for ten minutes this morning, then waited and walked towards sunset…
Sun, Light and Mont Sainte-Victoire
Yesterday I visited the National Gallery with my sister to view the paintings in their latest exhibition, After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art. I can recommend…
How To Tell Which Tree is Older?
Which is the older of these two large trees? Clue: there are a few ways we can age trees, including one related to natural navigation.…
Reading Trees on BBC Radio 4 Today
It was an honour and a great pleasure to get the chance to talk about reading tree signs with Justin Webb on BBC Radio 4’s…
Happy March Equinox!
Happy March Equinox! The sun will rise and set north of east and west from tomorrow. In the northern hemisphere this means its arc in…
The North Side, The South Side
The North side of the logs… The South side of the logs. You might also enjoy: Natural Navigation Using Snow on Trees What is a…
BUMPER HOLIDAYS PUZZLE
Here is a bumper photo puzzle that went out in my newsletter email earlier this month (you can sign up for that at the bottom…
How to Use the UK Military’s Survival Compass to Tell the Time
A guest blog by John Hudson FRGS, the UK military’s Chief Survival Instructor. Direction finding in the military these days uses lots of technology, but…
Little and Large Natural Navigation Clues
Sometimes natural navigation is more challenging than others. I’m often asked, “What is the most difficult place to navigate using nature?” I think people expect…
How to Take Great Landscape Photographs
I’m not a professional photographer, which makes it all the more helpful to know a few tricks that help create great landscape photographs. If you…
Grass Colour and Soil Depth
The colour of grass can indicate the depth of the soil. Towards the end of summer, especially hot dry ones, the colour of the grass…
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:…
Ice Wall in Finland
I’ve just received another fascinating email from ‘Chris in Finland’: I took this photo a few days ago on Lake Näsijärvi, Tampere, Pirkanmaa, Finland. This…
Saharan Dust Moon Halo
There was a 22 Degree halo around the moon a couple of nights ago. This is a sign of cirrostratus, a high veil of icy…
How to Beat the Wind
I’ve been faced with an interesting weather challenge recently. I needed to take a sail off my boat for maintenance. This is something I can…
Which Way Are We Looking – Night Walk
I went for a very enjoyable night walk in the South Downs last night. What direction are we looking in the photo above? Answer… We…