Ali Peaker
@alipeaker.bsky.social
120 followers 130 following 23 posts
Botany, bryology, exploring and recording in Aberdeenshire.
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alipeaker.bsky.social
Allseed, Linum radiola in a dune slack at Forvie National Nature Reserve today. It was so tiny we wouldn’t have seen it if we hadn’t been kneeling down to look at something else! #wildflowerhour
alipeaker.bsky.social
It’s so hard to choose a #FavouritePlant for #wildflowerhour but this Moonwort standing guard over various other candidates has won my vote.
alipeaker.bsky.social
These photos would have been great for last #wildflowerhour #HarebellChallenge. It is amazing how prolific these plants are, clinging on to cracks in the mortar on the railway bridge.
alipeaker.bsky.social
Late for #wildflowerhour. Blue and white bluebells from the coast north of Aberdeen
alipeaker.bsky.social
The hairy flowers of Self-heal for #wildflowerhour #hairyplants
alipeaker.bsky.social
So late for #wildflowerhour - where did Sunday go? Trisetum flavescens, Yellow Oat-grass from my garden this morning. Such a beautiful grass but nigh impossible to catch on camera.
alipeaker.bsky.social
Mountain Pansies today at Glen Doll #wildflowerhour
alipeaker.bsky.social
A tiny Scurvygrass growing on a Serpentine outcrop in NE Scotland. I wouldn’t care to make a call on whether it was Pyrenean or Common, but it was strikingly beautiful on a chilly and overcast day #wildflowerhour #cabbagefamily
alipeaker.bsky.social
I think this is the rosette of Ranunculus scleratus. There were a fair few scattered in the salt marsh below Bonar Bridge. #wildflowerhour
alipeaker.bsky.social
An eye catching display of Danish Scurvygrass and Common Whitlowgrass growing in the cracks of the pavement at Burghead in Moray. #wildflowerhour
alipeaker.bsky.social
#wildflowerhour Gagea lutea, Yellow Star of Bethlehem, by the River Spey. A beautiful plant in a lovely setting on a glorious day.
alipeaker.bsky.social
Late for #wildflowerhour and the plants I saw on my #NYPH weren’t exactly photogenic anyway, so here is an Autumn Gentian from the north coast of Scotland as a reminder of summer days.
alipeaker.bsky.social
Things aren’t looking promising for #NYPH next week. Most of the late flowers gave up after the cold spell earlier this month. But the fragrance of this Winter Heliotrope caught my attention during this morning’s walk. Perhaps the current mild weather will coax a few more early flowers out.
alipeaker.bsky.social
I headed north this week and found my #winter10 for #wildflowerhour by the River Spey. Names in the alt text. I may be cheating with the Wood Sage as the flowers were well past their best.
Clockwise from top left - Knapweed, Green Alkanet, Yarrow, Marsh Thistle, False-Brome
Clockwise from top left - Nipplewort, Scentless Mayweed, Sow-thistle, Wood Sage, Gorse
alipeaker.bsky.social
It took a bit of searching but I managed to find 10 flowering plants this week. Scentless Mayweed, Gorse, Pineappleweed, Danish Scurvygrass, Chickweed, Yarrow, Knapweed, Common Field Speedwell, Common Fumitory and Ivy-leaved Toadflax, cheekily growing through Ivy.
alipeaker.bsky.social
The frost didn’t lift at all in Glen Tanar on Thursday. It was a bright, still day giving clear views of the snowy Cairngorm massif. There were no flowers to photograph for #wildflowerhour, and there were no other walkers to be seen either.
alipeaker.bsky.social
#wildflowerhour After a week of snow and ice and then Bert’s rain and wind, everything was pretty bedraggled today. Here is the best of a poor collection - Groundsel, Field Forget-me-not; Bush Vetch, Ivy, Daisy, Ragwort, and Gorse. Must do better next week!
alipeaker.bsky.social
It wasn’t too difficult to find my winter 10 during a walk at Muir of Dinnet NNR yesterday. Next week might be harder as the temperatures are dropping fast. Heather; Cowberry; Wood Sage; Marsh Thistle; Yarrow; Ragwort; Cat’s ear; Creeping Buttercup; Daisy; Autumn hawkbit. #Wildflowerhour
alipeaker.bsky.social
A lone flowering Bluebell, Campanula rotundifolia, near Finzean this weekend. Such a bright blue on a gloomy day. #wildflowerhour
alipeaker.bsky.social
Corn Marigold, Glebionis segetum, glowing in the late sunshine this afternoon. Although the field runs pretty close to the cliff top and is subject to the full force of the North Sea winds, it seems to have found a sheltered spot. Kincardineshire. #wildflowerhour
alipeaker.bsky.social
Herb Robert climbing through a railway fence; fruits of bittersweet also supported by the railway fence.
alipeaker.bsky.social
#wildflowerhour I found quite a few plants still in flower this weekend around Newtonhill, Kincardineshire - Field Pansy, Ivy-leaved toadflax, Bush vetch and Honeysuckle
alipeaker.bsky.social
Ivy-leaved toadflax, Cymbalaria muralis, still flowering on the walls of Drum Castle, Aberdeenshire, today. My Scottish mother always called this plant ‘Ruin’. I was intrigued to find out recently that it is called Ruine-de-Rome in France, although it doesn’t explain my mum’s use of the name.