Recent news
Another Hawthorn Gall
Following on from the recent post about Phyllocoptes goniothorax galls on the leaf edges of hawthorn, here is another gall on the plant. Familiar enough to have a common name (Hawthorn…
Standish, 13 September 2012
A naturalist never need go 20 yards beyond their front door to find subjects of wonder. Today, in my garden I wasted plenty of time enjoying the insects on the…
Fretherne, 31 August 2012
The banks of the Severn at Fretherne remind us that Gloucestershire is a coastal county. The tide was way out mid afternoon, exposing vast areas of estuarine mud with deep…
Letter from the Chair, August 2012
Dear Members The members of the GNS Executive Committee are largely active field naturalists, who like to be out and about recording natural history in the summer months; so there…
Autumn Lady’s Tresses on Minchinhampton and Selsley Commons
After many years of walking on Minchinhampton Common we have eventually seen several (16) Autumn Lady’s Tresses in flower – literally by my daughter almost putting her foot on one. …
Slender Hare’s-ear, 21 August 2012
As part of BSBI’s Threatened Plants Project, the Gloucestershire Plant Group searched for Slender Hare’s-ear (Bupleurum tenuissimum) along the Severn shore at Berkeley. This is a small plant, here no…
Walmore Common
The damp conditions have attracted some interesting birds over the past few days. The highlights have been up to four Garganeys and also a juvenile Wood Sandpiper. The only previous…
Cleeve Hill limestone heath, 19 August 2012
Ellie Phillips led a GNS field meeting to examine the limestone heath of Cleeve Hill. There are several patches of heather (Calluna vulgaris) on Cleeve Hill near the Masts, currently…
Narrow Lipped Helleborines flowering in Buckholt Woods
There are a few Narrow Lipped Helleborines currently flowering in Buckholt Woods near Cranham . I managed to visit one site near to the road that cuts through the woods…
Curlews on the Severn Estuary between Lydney and the Severn Bridge
I visit this area fairly frequently, and I’ve been looking regularly over the last few days (mainly in search of colour-ringed Curlews), at the top of the latest high tide…
A Curlew replacement clutch
Because of the difficulty of finding Curlew nests and eggs in the large hay meadows where they nest in the Severn and Avon Vales, it is hard to follow the…
Great Green Bush-Cricket on Rodborough Common
Three days ago whilst strolling on Rodborough Common we saw a Great Green Bush-Cricket nymph sitting on a thistle leaf. Apart from waving its antennae around it was very inactive. …