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The Unsung Heroes of Pollination: Beyond the Bee
FFON EcoScribe. Just as a bee isn’t merely a bee, a pollinator isn’t just a bee either. In the vast orchestra of nature, there are numerous (200,000+ species) unsung heroes playing their part in the symphony of pollination – far too many to mention here, but let’s make a start… 1. Butterflies: The Colourful Wanderers…
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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 FFON Armchair Naturalist website: https://thefrightenedfaceofnature.com/ Part 1. Last month we decided, as a break from our fifteen-week Covid-19 “lockdown”, to explore the River Nar on…
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Marvellous Moths
By David McHattie. Colourful visitors photographed during Essex garden lock-down from the Dengie Peninsula. I have been lucky this spring – lots of moths and butterflies to see in the garden. I have enticed the “visitors” with a pheromone lure (Emperor Moth), the Cinnabar Moth with the UV light from a moth trap, but the…
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Here in Germany, we do watch a lot from our windows
Written by John F. Burton in Germany, who knew and worked with Maxwell Knight: Thank you very much for your kind email and your inspiring internet (FFON) piece, which we enjoyed reading. Here in Germany, we do watch a lot from our windows (passing White Storks, Grey Herons, Cormorants, Buzzards, Sparrowhawks, Goshawks, Jays, etc.) and…
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“It’s been an exciting week for us two Norfolk Armchair Naturalists”
Written by John and Margaret Cooper. Easter, but it doesn’t feel like it because of the personal, national and global concern about Covid-19 and growing number of deaths. However, as the Queen said in her Easter message “Easter isn’t cancelled; indeed, we need Easter as much as ever”. This morning, as we are doing everyday…
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Butterflies, bees and buddleia – brilliant!
It’s amazing how much life a buddleia bush can attract – butterflies, bees, moths, hoverflies and an assortment of other flying insects feasting on the purple offerings. Buddleia is so simple to grow. Plant it. Leave it. Watch it spring to life and live up to its name (the butterfly bush). Cut it hard back…
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Are you ready to take part in the big butterfly count?
Could butterflies be bouncing back to Britain?
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Are butterflies slipping through our fingers?
The results for this year’s Big Butterfly Count are in and conservationists are already ‘scratching their heads,’ reports Butterfly Conservation. Over 38,000 counts were apparently completed and an almost unbelievable 396,138 butterflies were counted and – despite favourable weather conditions – 2016 will be a year where ‘common species saw their numbers collapse over summer.’ ‘Gatekeeper, Comma and…
