“Our first ever slow worm in the garden…”
Dear Simon, John and Margaret We have written a very quick note below from our encounter a few days ago and also attached a couple of pictures if you would…
Author: Simon H King FLS
FFON Co-founder
Where Have All Our Butterflies Gone?
By Dr. David Glynne Fox This article is based on almost seventy years of personal observations in the wild, primarily in and around my home county of Nottinghamshire, although these…
Save Burlington House: Letter from supporters published in The Sunday Telegraph on 21st March 2021, #LinneanAtBH
How You Can Help Write letters, raise awareness, talk to people – visit https://www.linnean.org/the-society/savebh/how-you-can-help to find out more (before it’s too late).
THE NAR VALLEY IN NORFOLK – A FOOT SAFARI DURING THE COVID LOCKDOWN Part 2.
Written by John and Margaret Cooper: Pentney to King’s Lynn walk 13 – 15 July 2020. A report on our walk – and the natural history that we saw –…
Threat to the Linnean Society of London @Helen_Whately @LinneanSociety #SupportGSL #LinneanatBH and #SocAntiquaries
To: Helen Whately MP, Minister for Social Care. Dear Helen, I am writing to tell you about the Linnean Society of London, of which I am a Fellow, and how…
Pressure mounts on Government as Burlington House learned societies join forces to fight for science, heritage and the arts #SupportGSL #LinneanatBH and #SocAntiquaries
The future of three learned societies at London’s famous Burlington House is now under threat as rents increase by over 3,000% and continue to escalate Geological Society and Linnean Society…
@jamesowild @timloughton Please Help @LinneanSociety Save Burlington House. Here’s what nature needs:
James Wild MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA Dear Mr Wild Save Burlington House Campaign May I draw your attention to an article in The Guardian dated 28 February…
Linnean Society: Save Burlington House Appeal @LinneanSociety
Lia Nici MP Member of Parliament for Great Grimsby Martin Vickers MP Member of Parliament for the Cleethorpes Constituency Dear Lia and Martin I am writing to you as my local…
The Water Spider: An Enigma Beneath the Surface
By Dr. David Glynne Fox The Water Spider (Argyroneta aquatica) is, as far as is known, the only truly aquatic spider in the world, living almost entirely submerged in ponds…
Redwings in the garden this morning
What a treat to see around thirty Redwing in the garden this morning all foraging for insects under leaves. Lucky me. Watch out for the winter thrushes in your garden.…
LIFE IN THE TIME OF THE VIRUS by Dr Valerie Jeffries.
Here we are, the world-dominating Hominin, miserably in thrall to the tiniest and simplest form of life, a virus. It’s not even alive in some opinions, depending on your definition…
Happy New Year to friends and followers of the FFON
2020 was our biggest year for the FFON website – readership grew by more than 200% and came courtesy of 90 plus countries. We couldn’t have created so much wonderful…
Butterfly feeding experiment by Rowan Allen who is eight-years-old.
The following article, “Butterfly feeding experiment”, is by Rowan Allen, who is eight-years-old. Readers of FFON will remember Rowan’s previous contributions to the website – a poem about an ocelot…
Move Over Robin Hood? With a Tribute to Pamela
By Graham Wellstead. I expect many of my generation will echo in some way, but my life growing up in the 1940s and 50s was not run-of-the-mill. I lived with…
Podcast Episode 8: Make Nature Your Playground and “Consider the Colours”.
Welcome to autumn: Simon, John and Margaret join forces this autumn/winter with the wonderful team at Haith’s wild bird food (https://www.haiths.com/) to launch their new project – “Make Nature Your…
We’re in ‘Peregrine’ – The magazine of the Hawk and Owl Trust
No. 113 Autumn/Winter 2020. Visit https://hawkandowltrust.org to find out more about The Hawk and Owl Trust.
The Nar Valley in Norfolk – A foot safari during the Covid lockdown.
John and Margaret Cooper’s Pentney to King’s Lynn ‘safari’ 13 – 15 July 2020. A report on our walk – and the natural history that we saw – for the…
Gilbert White: 300 year anniversary of his birth.
By Dr Valerie Jeffries FLS. Rev Gilbert White FRS (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a pioneer naturalist, who collected over 40 years’ observations of the flora and…
My Woodland Odyssey.
By Graham Wellstead. It would not be to difficult to calculate how much of my life has been enriched in terms of years, an educated guess would be 3 to…
The Smell of Green
By Susan Underkoffler – our Pennsylvania, USA correspondent. I met someone during my first experience away from home at university. His name was Marco and he was from Iceland. Stocky…
THE FISHES’ TALE. Part II : RESURGENCE
By Dr Valerie Jeffries FLS If you missed Part I, it’s here. Franz Witte back in Leiden could hardly believe what he was hearing on the crackly phone line from…
“Wild place in a crowded county” by Graham Wellstead
I (Simon King) heard recently from naturalist Graham Wellstead who was keen to write about a special place for FFON readers – he wrote: “Here I am taking liberties. I…
Podcast episode 7 – An Anniversary (Maxwell Knight’s) and an Armchair Assessment.
Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today’s podcast is “An Anniversary and An Armchair Assessment” and marked the fact that the 9th of July (when the podcast was recorded), is…
THE FISHES’ TALE
By Dr Valerie Jeffries FLS – FFON’s Kenya and UK correspondent Part 1: DARWIN’S OWN LAKE Lake Victoria has been a highway for trade, could become a highspot for tourists,…
Bee orchids: a plant being able to outwit an insect is truly phenomenal.
A genius evolutionary mimic of developing a decoy female bee to attract males hoping to mate with the ‘inanimate female’, but instead the males end up pollinating the flower free…
An entertaining short video relating to a social distance dispute (hedgehogs!), but first – moths:
The photos below and the video clip of hedgehogs were sent to John and Margaret Cooper by their friend Tim Roberts who lives in a small village in Shropshire. Tim…
“The Ocelot” by Rowan Allen (age 8)
The illustrations below were sent to John and Margaret Cooper (in response to their ‘An invitation to children and young people’ project invitation) by their friend Michelle O’Brien, who is…
Podcast episode 6 – Bees, bugs, ponds and water-bowls.
Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today’s podcast is “Bees, bugs, ponds and water-bowls.” The FFON (www.ffon.co.uk) team discuss Sean Wensley’s timely blog “Growing close to nature during lockdown” and…
