Rosie's UEA Ecology Blog

A relative of primroses and known for their nodding, bright yellow heads of flowers, the Cowslip ( Primula veris ) is a wildflower closely associated with English folklore and traditional hay meadows. Cowslips have declined with the traditional hay meadows of the English countryside, and fields full of nodding yellow heads are now a rarer sight than they have been in the past. The name Cowslip actually comes from cow-slop meaning cow pat which, although not the best name for such beautiful flower, refers to their meadow habitat. Cowslips have traditionally been used as confetti at weddings and for adorning May Day garlands. T hey are the county flowers of Surrey, Essex, Northamptonshire and Worcestershire. Due to their key role in English heritage, they have acquired many different colloquial names including "bunch of keys", "herb Peter", "St Peter's keys", "key of heaven", and "paigles". References to keys come from their shape (cl...

A queen Buff-Tailed bumblebee using her proboscis to feed from Ground Ivy flowers. One of the first pollinators to emerge in the spring is the Buff-Tailed Bumblebee ( Bombus terrestris ). So named after the buff-coloured tail of the queen bumblebees which emerge first, though the workers have an almost white tail and can often be confused with the White-Tailed bumblebee. Bumblebees nest in colonies underground, and bumblebees as big as the Buff-Tailed (~2 cm in length) frequently use old mammal nests (for example mice and voles). Buff-Tailed bumblebee colonies are large, and can reach 600 individuals! Buff-Tailed bumblebees are parasitised by the cuckoo-bee  Bombus vestalis , so called as it is a brood parasite, taking over the nests of its host, much like a cuckoo. It does this by killing the host queen and takes her place, so the host workers unknowingly raise the parasite's young. A Buff-Tailed bumblebee feeding from Ground Ivy, although the flowers are not very 'open', ...

Though more indigo-purple in colour, bluebells ( Hyacinthoides non-scripta ) are a definite sign of spring. Their characteristic scent and carpeting of forest floors (sometimes in their millions!) is a well-known scene of mid April. A mixture of bluebells and wood anemones carpeting the floor of an ancient woodland. Bluebells are an ancient woodland indicator species, as they take many years to develop into a flowering plant from seed, so rely on the stability of the environment to develop into the swathes that dominate some UK woodlands at this time of year. They grow leaves and flower before the canopy of the woodland has fully developed, so as to make use of the increased light reaching the forest floor. As bluebells emerge early in the year and in such abundance, they provide a very important nectar source for early-emerging pollinators including bees and butterflies. A bluebell imposter. The image above shows what, at first glance, appears to be a normal bluebell, but is actually ...

A pair of Mute swans, shot through my binoculars. As one of the UK's largest birds, and being bright white, the Mute swan ( Cygnus olor ) is difficult to miss as it patrols the waterways with an elegance frequently remarked upon by authors and poets. The most well known is perhaps its appearance in the children's story The Ugly Ducking  by Hans Christian Andersen, where he describes the swan's transformation from cygnet to adult from 'ugly' to beautiful. Mute swans have long been associated with royalty, eating them was seen as a status symbol in the past, as payment to monarchy was required for the privilege. In order to own swans in the 15th century, payment needed to be made to the king to receive a 'swan mark' which was engraved into the beaks of the swans, any unmarked swans were property of the monarch. This practice was continued until the 19th century, when the wife of King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra stopped it, as it was considered an unnecessary c...