New Year Plant Hunt 2017

Wild Reekie celebrated its first anniversary by repeating its first ever event: the BSBI New Year Plant Hunt on Blackford Hill. 

We were joined by members of the Edinburgh Botanists facebook group so we had a real mix of knowledge levels, from people who had only just arrived in Scotland and therefore didn't know any of the local plants, to serious experts in Edinburgh flora.

Unlike last year, our records will form part of the iRecord national database, thanks to the new New Year Plant Hunt App.

Despite our extra expertise, we didn't find quite as many flowers as last year, and it felt like they were harder to find, perhaps because of the cold spell before Christmas. It will be interesting to see how our results compare to those from around the country.

Our full list was:

1. Ivy
2. Gorse
3. Common Ragwort
4. Pineappleweed
5. Annual Meadow-grass
6. White Dead-nettle
7. Ribwort Plantain
8. Cock's-foot
9. Festuca x Lolium?
10. Grey Alder
11. Red Campion
12. Smooth Hawk's-beard
13. Daisy
14. Wavy Bitter-cress
15. Wood Sage
16. Hazel
17. Common Alder
18. Common Mouse-ear subsp. holosteoides
19. Barren Strawberry
20. Yarrow

Many thanks to Gus for making the list! 

It was great to get outdoors and to have something to hunt for in the natural world, but I'm certainly hoping to have some more botany trips when flowers really are in season!

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Scottish Wildlife Trust's most urban reserve

As part of #30DaysWildReekie, we visited the tiny Johnston Terrace nature reserve,  Scottish Wildlife Trust's most urban reserve right under Edinburgh Castle.

We listed over 40 species, mostly wildflowers: Stinging nettle, White dead nettle, Mayweed, Red campion, Hogweed, Creeping buttercup, Meadow buttercup, Bramble, Herb robert, Meadow cranesbill, Round-leaved cranesbill, White clover, Red clover, Dandelion, Flag iris, Rosebay willowherb, Cleavers, Green alkanet, Wood avens, Ivy, Bittersweet, Dog rose, Bluebell (just!), Teasel, Cocksfoot grass, Elm, Hazel, Elder, Ash, Hawthorn, Silver birch, Rowan, Bluetit, Swallow, Greater black back gull, Magpie, Common carder bee, Woodlouse, Diamondback moth (part of the current invasion), and Human (also part of the current invasion!) We didn't have any ecologists in the group and there were plenty of other species we couldn't identify including ferns, moss, grasses, plantains, snails, bumblebees and other invertebrates.

Bittersweet

Snail enjoying the damp weather

Not a bad list for a tiny area in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town.

Many thanks to Scottish Wildlife Trust for permission to visit the reserve. I hope it won't be Wild Reekie's last.

You can see future Wild Reekie events and sign up to receive notifications on our Meetup Page. You can also follow me on twitter at @eleanormharris.

Burdiehouse Burn Cleanup

Yesterday a group of Wild Reekians joined in a big community event: a Friends of Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park cleanup. The weather was unexpectedly excellent.

Photo by Friends of Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park (FBBVP).

The event had been in the Evening News the day before, as the aim was to ensure the park kept its Green Flag status. It is the only Edinburgh park with a Green Flag in an area of high deprivation. A reporter was there on the day taking lots of photos - here he is distracting Emily and Rebecca from their hard work...

My highlight was getting hold of a pair of waders and getting in the river.

Eleanor with Bruce, convenor of the Friends. Photo by FBBVP. 

This meant a chance to get really close to the river, where, you discover, is where all the flowers, moss, fungi and liverworts hang out under the willows.

Celandines, Wild garlic, Fungi, and things.

Mossy willows.

After a morning's hard work we had a huge pile of rubbish (this is only some of it), including a bike, scooter, football, buggy, and what looked like an exhaust pipe.

Afterwards the kettle went on, the baking came out, and the sunbathing began.

In the afternoon a few of us who had 'interloped' from around Edinburgh took the opportunity to explore down the burn to Ellen's Glen. Spring springing everywhere.

Blackthorn and Hawthorn I think.

Coltsfoot, one of my favourite spring flowers.

My star sighting was a Comma, a butterfly I've never seen before, as it only recently returned to Scotland for the first time since the early nineteenth century. Worth looking out for: they look distinctively raggedy round the edges.

Many thanks to the Friends for organising the event and providing such lovely weather! Keep an eye on their Facebook Page for news of their big Bioblitz this summer.

To keep informed of future Wild Reekie events, follow our Meetup Page. Follow me on Twitter @eleanormharris.

New Year Plant Hunt

The first Wild Reekie event took place on the morning of 1 January 2016 on Blackford Hill. Ten of us spent three hours hunting for plants in flower, as part of the UK-wide New Year Plant Hunt, organised by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI).

 We found 21 different flowering plants:

1. Bramble
2. Gorse
3. Yorkshire fog (grass)
4. Annual meadow grass
5. Alder
6. Ragwort
7. Red campion
8. Giant butterbur
9. Smooth hawks-beard
10. Daisy
11. Ivy
12. Hazel
13. Wood Avens
14. Prickly sow-thistle
15. Barren strawberry
16. Herb robert
17. Lesser celandine
18. Hogweed
19. White dead-nettle
20. Cock’s foot (grass)
21. Smooth sow-thistle

Many thanks to our two ecologists who helped with the identifications.

"I think this was the most enjoyable Jan 1st I've had for a long time. Meeting new people, being in the fresh air, and looking for anything flowering. Great fun, good to do something different, looking forward to doing more."

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