Delighted to be working with Trees for Life on the Wild Pine Project. This week we took samples to work out tree ages in this previously unrecorded West Highland site. One tree even had axe marks where ‘fir candle’ tapers had been taken long ago. #dendrochronology #rewilding

Take yourself to an Irish coastal marsh at night. Rain pitter-patters softly on the water. Surf gently crashes in the distance. Swans and wigeon graze and call at peace in the blackness.

1 hour version here: tinyurl.com/mrydwuw9

Perfect for relaxation. Best with earphones.

Excited to hear news of the first Corncrake back on Rathlin yesterday! We tried our luck listening in the late afternoon sunshine, and sadly it didn't perform for us. But got to see two broods of tiny Coot chicks being fed by their parents instead, the first we've seen this year

What a bizarre sight in Kilmeaden. The chemicals are so toxic a full on protective suit is needed. Who cares about the person passing by walking their dog or the children getting their bus to school? All to kill some moss & wildflowers. Hope it doesn’t get into the water! 1/

Bluebells, Coltsfoot, Scurvy Grass (lots of), Red Campion, Dandelions & quite a few more all growing along a small stretch river bank on Belfast (there are also some 🌳 saplings)

It would seem a strange thing to strim a bank of perennial wildflowers (weeds) so that 'prettier'…

And some MPs want to hand more power to the Environment Minister to make decisions without consulting Natural England.

Greece becomes first European country to ban bottom trawling in marine parks theguardian.com/environment/20…

Magnificent tree in blossom at the front of Bush House on the Antrim Hospital site Northern Trust Donna Rainey

Donna Rainey We need many more silage fields to become ex's 😉🐝

Have you seen a Cowslip in bloom this year? This week’s challenge is to find one and share your pics for #wildflowerhour this Sunday using the hashtag #CowslipChallenge . Happy flower hunting! 💛

Some people don't deserve to own land. Hedges ripped out, replaced with fences. Fences sprayed with weedkiller, hundreds of round bales worth of plastic abandoned. Yet no laws impinged on or broken.

First Common carder #bumblebee of the year for me. All the sweeter for it being on #Dandelion in my ex silage field. #meadows

Calling all naturalists in Merseyside!

If you know of any old Elm trees which aren’t obviously planted, either growing in woodlands or fields, I’d be interested to know! 🌱❤️ Merseyside BioBank

There's something very satisfying about the contrast between a mown path and a sward of long grass (managed for #biodiversity by Queen's University Belfast 🎓 Green at Queen's)
It's its first year and will be fasinating to see how it evolves.

Blackthorn flowers at a farm in Co. Offaly. Blackthorn is wonderful for wildlife, but not always a favourite for people managing hedgerows due to its sharp thorns and suckers! It provides vital early flowers for our bees, and the thorns help to protect nesting birds 🪺

An ancient holloway, lined with wildflowers, partially lit by the morning sun.

#HobHeyWood #TwitterNaturePhotography

rathlin360.com/rathlin-one-of…

Wildflowers. Every year they make me feel so happy 🥰 forever grateful to be able to share this experience with others who feel the same

the red pigment, anthocyanin, in young emerging leaves of Juglans regia, Common Walnut. it's protective, mitigating against photo-damage to the chloroplasts, and possibly also a defence against insect herbivory

To some this would appear to be a weedy lawn. To me it’s the culmination of many years of work to turn a typical lawn into an amazing wildflower meadow with the promise of a great season ahead🙏