THE WILD CORNER It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent upon each other […]
Updates on our conservation projects First the bad news Not really conservation news, but in 2020 we had two cars die in Dorset. One mission was delivering Barberry plants to Butterfly Conservation. The other was to survey ladybird spider sites and deliver the plants that hadn’t quite made it before. For us this is one
Wide Eyed Squids and Squid Kids – In search of the Kraken Cephalopods (octopuses, cuttlefish, squid and nautiluses) are our most popular images at Lifeforms. In response to the popularity we decided to take it a little further. I can claim no great expertise on the subject but a lifelong fascination does help prevent me from
Encounters with Cephalopods – Squid The World’s oceans still hold many mysteries and secrets. For all our exploration, technology and science, the seas around the British Isles are no less beguiling than any around the World. As a child, I remember looking out at the sea. Most often it was murky and choppy, and I’d
Encounters with Cephalopods Read More »
Earth Day 2021 “God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, avalanches and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools.” John Muir (Scottish Naturalist and USA and international conservation icon) Preamble – escape to the garden According to the Bible, God was a gardener and he allowed us
Escape to the Garden Read More »
Adorning our homes with nature Art to save the planet is a bit of a big ask. But never has our environment faced greater threats than it does today. We all need to take responsibility and play our part. Our approach here at Lifeforms is both hands on Conservation and raising awareness of our fellow
Art to Save the Planet Read More »
Celebrating Frog Day! Frogs and toads (anurans) are widely considered to be the world’s most threatened and rapidly declining group of animals. The statistics are horrifying; the cause is us. Save the Frogs Anyone wondering what we can do or if anyone is doing anything should consider this carefully. Whilst conservationists are fighting hard to
How to tell a crow from a jackdaw! The corvids have much to crow about when it comes to intelligence having outsmarted primates in some tests. There are 8 species (sort-of) resident in the UK. Raven Carrion Crow Hooded Crow Rook Chough Jackdaw Magpie Jay Although some, like the magpie are much easier to distinguish
Recognising corvids Read More »
A Valentines Day look at how romance is alive and well in the animal Kingdom. Cephalopod Courtship and Amorous Arachnids Not only is it fun to say, but cephalopod courtship is fascinating and bears similarities to the activities of amorous arachnids. Both normally employ modified appendages, we can even call them arms, to perform the
A Valentines Day Special Read More »
Happy Birthday Mr Darwin Today – 12th February is Darwin Day. This marks the birthday of and celebrates the discoveries of Naturalist Charles Darwin, born in 1809. Charles Darwin We love Charles Darwin here at Lifeforms. Like us he was interested in all life and was not a specialist in any field. He sailed on
Charles Darwin Day Read More »
