Neil Forbes
@treebeard793.bsky.social
Ecologist, based in South Cumbria. Mostly focused on coastal, wetland, limestone and upland habitats; botany, birds & Natterjacks. Views my own.
Pinned
Neil Forbes
@treebeard793.bsky.social
· Oct 5
Earlier this year we published a summary of our short-term study of the apparent changing phenology of Sabulina verna, Spring Sandwort, at #Arnside Knott in @bsbibotany.bsky.social News. Had a quick visit yesterday and it was by some margin the most abundant flowering species.
#wildflowerhour
#wildflowerhour
Sea Radish, Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. maritimus.
Quite a bit sill in flower on the Arnside - Silverdale coastline.
#wildflowerhour
#NationalLandscapes
#Cumbria #Lancashire
Quite a bit sill in flower on the Arnside - Silverdale coastline.
#wildflowerhour
#NationalLandscapes
#Cumbria #Lancashire
November 23, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Sea Radish, Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. maritimus.
Quite a bit sill in flower on the Arnside - Silverdale coastline.
#wildflowerhour
#NationalLandscapes
#Cumbria #Lancashire
Quite a bit sill in flower on the Arnside - Silverdale coastline.
#wildflowerhour
#NationalLandscapes
#Cumbria #Lancashire
November 23, 2025 at 8:55 PM
November 23, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Smooth Hawk's-beard, Crepis capillaris. Holding on after recent floods & frosts.
#wildflowerhour at #RSPB Leighton Moss & along the #Silverdale shore
#wildflowerhour at #RSPB Leighton Moss & along the #Silverdale shore
November 23, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Smooth Hawk's-beard, Crepis capillaris. Holding on after recent floods & frosts.
#wildflowerhour at #RSPB Leighton Moss & along the #Silverdale shore
#wildflowerhour at #RSPB Leighton Moss & along the #Silverdale shore
The #Winter10 (11) from the #Silverdale coast.
#wildflowerhour in #Lancashire
Sea Mayweed, Sea Radish, Smooth Hawk's-beard, Nipplewort, Yarrow, Herb-Robert, Cock's-foot, Annual Meadow-grass, Hogweed, Smooth Sow-thistle & Ragwort.
#wildflowerhour in #Lancashire
Sea Mayweed, Sea Radish, Smooth Hawk's-beard, Nipplewort, Yarrow, Herb-Robert, Cock's-foot, Annual Meadow-grass, Hogweed, Smooth Sow-thistle & Ragwort.
November 23, 2025 at 8:14 PM
The #Winter10 (11) from the #Silverdale coast.
#wildflowerhour in #Lancashire
Sea Mayweed, Sea Radish, Smooth Hawk's-beard, Nipplewort, Yarrow, Herb-Robert, Cock's-foot, Annual Meadow-grass, Hogweed, Smooth Sow-thistle & Ragwort.
#wildflowerhour in #Lancashire
Sea Mayweed, Sea Radish, Smooth Hawk's-beard, Nipplewort, Yarrow, Herb-Robert, Cock's-foot, Annual Meadow-grass, Hogweed, Smooth Sow-thistle & Ragwort.
A luxuriant patch of Black Spleenwort growing on a limestone wall in Silverdale.
Wonderful botanical name - Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. A somewhat scarce species locally these days.
#WildFernHour ahead of tonight's #wildflowerhour
Wonderful botanical name - Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. A somewhat scarce species locally these days.
#WildFernHour ahead of tonight's #wildflowerhour
November 23, 2025 at 3:39 PM
A luxuriant patch of Black Spleenwort growing on a limestone wall in Silverdale.
Wonderful botanical name - Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. A somewhat scarce species locally these days.
#WildFernHour ahead of tonight's #wildflowerhour
Wonderful botanical name - Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. A somewhat scarce species locally these days.
#WildFernHour ahead of tonight's #wildflowerhour
Reposted by Neil Forbes
One-flowered glasswort (Salicornia disarticulata) still looking good on a North Norfolk saltmarsh. Distinctive little thing once known. The single flowers seem to typically turn reddish. Most other glassworts had died off for the winter already.
November 17, 2025 at 8:58 PM
One-flowered glasswort (Salicornia disarticulata) still looking good on a North Norfolk saltmarsh. Distinctive little thing once known. The single flowers seem to typically turn reddish. Most other glassworts had died off for the winter already.
Reposted by Neil Forbes
Visted RSPB Arne in Dorset yesterday: the gorse was in flower in many parts of the heath, and I also saw some common heather, bell heather, and some hedge woundwort.
#wildflowerhour
#wildflowerhour
November 16, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Visted RSPB Arne in Dorset yesterday: the gorse was in flower in many parts of the heath, and I also saw some common heather, bell heather, and some hedge woundwort.
#wildflowerhour
#wildflowerhour
I thought it would be pretty much done by for the year now but there was actually a fair amount of Wild Thyme, Thymus drucei, still in flower up on Whitbarrow Scar today.
#Wildflowerhour
#Wildflowerhour
November 16, 2025 at 8:26 PM
I thought it would be pretty much done by for the year now but there was actually a fair amount of Wild Thyme, Thymus drucei, still in flower up on Whitbarrow Scar today.
#Wildflowerhour
#Wildflowerhour
Reposted by Neil Forbes
It’s Sunday & it’s 8pm so it must be time for #wildflowerhour! Please share your pics of the wild & naturalised blooms you’ve spotted from across Britain & Ireland in the last week and did you manage to spot #thewinter10, our challenge for the coldest months! ☺️
#WildflowerHour #TheWinter10 from #Preston this week; a shy common daisy, ragwort, fox & cubs, hogweed, pineapple weed, angelica looking like snowflakes! Hedge mustard, white dead nettle, red campion, hazel catkins, buttercup, honeysuckle, spindle @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
November 16, 2025 at 8:00 PM
It’s Sunday & it’s 8pm so it must be time for #wildflowerhour! Please share your pics of the wild & naturalised blooms you’ve spotted from across Britain & Ireland in the last week and did you manage to spot #thewinter10, our challenge for the coldest months! ☺️
November 16, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Common Cord-grass, Spartina anglica #StillFlowering despite being in the #sea repeatedly over recent days. It is a fascinating & remarkable species, albeit often a problematic one.
#Wildflowerhour
#Arnside #Cumbria
#Wildflowerhour
#Arnside #Cumbria
November 16, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Common Cord-grass, Spartina anglica #StillFlowering despite being in the #sea repeatedly over recent days. It is a fascinating & remarkable species, albeit often a problematic one.
#Wildflowerhour
#Arnside #Cumbria
#Wildflowerhour
#Arnside #Cumbria
Hogweed, a most underrated species. The flowers are beautiful when you look closely - zygomorphic (mirror symmetry) & outer flowers with the biggest size difference between the petals. A late-flowering specimen seen at #RSPB Leighton Moss.
#wildflowerhour
#wildflowerhour
November 16, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Hogweed, a most underrated species. The flowers are beautiful when you look closely - zygomorphic (mirror symmetry) & outer flowers with the biggest size difference between the petals. A late-flowering specimen seen at #RSPB Leighton Moss.
#wildflowerhour
#wildflowerhour
Hard Fern, Blechnum spicant is very common in the Lake District but as a calcifugous species you don't often see it on limestone habitats.
Found this nice specimen with both frond types in a limestone woodland at The Howe, Whitbarrow today.
#wildfernhour - #wildflowerhour
Found this nice specimen with both frond types in a limestone woodland at The Howe, Whitbarrow today.
#wildfernhour - #wildflowerhour
November 16, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Hard Fern, Blechnum spicant is very common in the Lake District but as a calcifugous species you don't often see it on limestone habitats.
Found this nice specimen with both frond types in a limestone woodland at The Howe, Whitbarrow today.
#wildfernhour - #wildflowerhour
Found this nice specimen with both frond types in a limestone woodland at The Howe, Whitbarrow today.
#wildfernhour - #wildflowerhour
Reposted by Neil Forbes
I am bewildered that this labour of Sisyphus is being carried out by volunteers, while Southern Water, which has admitted responsibility for the catastrophe, is doing nothing to remediate it.
‘We feel we’re fighting a losing battle’: the race to remove millions of plastic beads from Camber Sands
A huge cleanup effort has seen volunteers working to remove beads by hand and machine. They can only wait and see the extent of damage to wildlife and dune habitat
www.theguardian.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:19 AM
I am bewildered that this labour of Sisyphus is being carried out by volunteers, while Southern Water, which has admitted responsibility for the catastrophe, is doing nothing to remediate it.
Always a bit of a surprise to flush #Snipe from habitats like this.
Gait Barrows #NNR #limestone pavement
Gait Barrows #NNR #limestone pavement
November 14, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Always a bit of a surprise to flush #Snipe from habitats like this.
Gait Barrows #NNR #limestone pavement
Gait Barrows #NNR #limestone pavement
Reposted by Neil Forbes
On Monday 17th November we have a webinar from our @npwsireland.bsky.social-funded Targeted Aquatic Plants Project.
This webinar, from the fantastic Nick Stewart, is about the identification of non-native aquatic plants.
Interested? Book yourself a ticket here: www.tickettailor.com/events/botan...
This webinar, from the fantastic Nick Stewart, is about the identification of non-native aquatic plants.
Interested? Book yourself a ticket here: www.tickettailor.com/events/botan...
November 11, 2025 at 8:53 PM
On Monday 17th November we have a webinar from our @npwsireland.bsky.social-funded Targeted Aquatic Plants Project.
This webinar, from the fantastic Nick Stewart, is about the identification of non-native aquatic plants.
Interested? Book yourself a ticket here: www.tickettailor.com/events/botan...
This webinar, from the fantastic Nick Stewart, is about the identification of non-native aquatic plants.
Interested? Book yourself a ticket here: www.tickettailor.com/events/botan...
Petty Spurge, Euphorbia peplus prefers "... well-drained and nutrient-rich soils in sun-warmed situations..." & so probably isn't enjoying the current water levels at RSPB Leighton Moss all that much at present.
@rspbengland.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
@rspbengland.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
November 11, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Petty Spurge, Euphorbia peplus prefers "... well-drained and nutrient-rich soils in sun-warmed situations..." & so probably isn't enjoying the current water levels at RSPB Leighton Moss all that much at present.
@rspbengland.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
@rspbengland.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
Reposted by Neil Forbes
Much talk all the time of freshwater wetlands being great filters & cleaning water. We must remember that sending dirty water into wetlands destroys them. There is nothing more certain in science than that. Make wetlands clean!!! @ramsar.org @freshwaterbio.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Much talk all the time of freshwater wetlands being great filters & cleaning water. We must remember that sending dirty water into wetlands destroys them. There is nothing more certain in science than that. Make wetlands clean!!! @ramsar.org @freshwaterbio.bsky.social
Reposted by Neil Forbes
Ok President Trump, if you sue the BBC for $1bn for spreading lies, I’ll sue you for the same amount. I reckon Planet Earth would crowdfund that. Then I’ll buy Mar A Largo, turn it into a climate change research centre, free Melania, and put a 1000% tariff on orange face paint.
November 10, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Ok President Trump, if you sue the BBC for $1bn for spreading lies, I’ll sue you for the same amount. I reckon Planet Earth would crowdfund that. Then I’ll buy Mar A Largo, turn it into a climate change research centre, free Melania, and put a 1000% tariff on orange face paint.
November 9, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Sea Radish, Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. maritimus, growing on a recently inundated upper #saltmarsh
We've had several more very high tides since so it's probably looking very bedraggled by now.
#Wildflowerhour
We've had several more very high tides since so it's probably looking very bedraggled by now.
#Wildflowerhour
November 9, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Sea Radish, Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. maritimus, growing on a recently inundated upper #saltmarsh
We've had several more very high tides since so it's probably looking very bedraggled by now.
#Wildflowerhour
We've had several more very high tides since so it's probably looking very bedraggled by now.
#Wildflowerhour
A second #Winter10 for #Wildflowerhour.
From another lovely limestone site, Helsington Barrows.
Wild Thyme, Harebell, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Rough Hawkbit, Gorse, Bramble sp, Herb-Robert, Daisy, Dandelion & Creeping Buttercup.
#Cumbria
From another lovely limestone site, Helsington Barrows.
Wild Thyme, Harebell, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Rough Hawkbit, Gorse, Bramble sp, Herb-Robert, Daisy, Dandelion & Creeping Buttercup.
#Cumbria
November 9, 2025 at 8:35 PM
A second #Winter10 for #Wildflowerhour.
From another lovely limestone site, Helsington Barrows.
Wild Thyme, Harebell, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Rough Hawkbit, Gorse, Bramble sp, Herb-Robert, Daisy, Dandelion & Creeping Buttercup.
#Cumbria
From another lovely limestone site, Helsington Barrows.
Wild Thyme, Harebell, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Rough Hawkbit, Gorse, Bramble sp, Herb-Robert, Daisy, Dandelion & Creeping Buttercup.
#Cumbria
My favourite find this week, a ting Common Centaury on the exceptionally species-rich limestone grasslands at Jack Scout, #Lancashire
#Wildflowerhour
#Wildflowerhour
November 9, 2025 at 8:32 PM
My favourite find this week, a ting Common Centaury on the exceptionally species-rich limestone grasslands at Jack Scout, #Lancashire
#Wildflowerhour
#Wildflowerhour
You can rely on Gorse to brighten up a day at any time of year.
#wildflowerhour
#Silverdale #Lancashire
#wildflowerhour
#Silverdale #Lancashire
November 9, 2025 at 8:08 PM
You can rely on Gorse to brighten up a day at any time of year.
#wildflowerhour
#Silverdale #Lancashire
#wildflowerhour
#Silverdale #Lancashire