First Large Skipper for Renfrewshire

At the last PNHS talk one of our members, Dee Murray, mentioned the unusual butterfly she spotted in her garden during the summer. Dee is interested in butterflies and records them along a local transect, but this was one she hadn't seen before. She saw it on 29th July when finishing up a cup ofContinue reading "First Large Skipper for Renfrewshire"

Latest additions to the website

Sulphur Tuft Fungus, Boden Boo, 9 October 2022 For those who missed our fungus foray at Boden Boo on Sunday 9 October, you can now read about it on the website. Read Anne Gray's report and see some of the photographs taken on our soggy saunter around the woods. You'll find it in Outing reportsContinue reading "Latest additions to the website"

Bio-Diversity study at Lochwinnoch

Lochwinnoch Community Development Trust (LCDT) are collaborating with Lochwinnoch Force for Nature (LFN) to hold a small biodiversity study - called a "Bio-Blast" on Sunday 25th September at Lochead Gardens. All are welcome to come onto site to help them identify what's currently living there. LCDT recently took over responsibility for the abandoned section ofContinue reading "Bio-Diversity study at Lochwinnoch"

A taster of outings past and future

We had a fabulous day for our July outing, the tree walk in Linwood Moss Community Woodland led by Judy Hayton. Sorry if you missed it, but you can read about how we got on in Judy's report on it on the Outings page. Our next outing is the evening walk on 4 August atContinue reading "A taster of outings past and future"

Join in the Big Butterfly Count

The Big Butterfly Count started on Friday 15th July and if you haven't already started counting there's plenty time as it runs until Sunday 7th August.  Male Common Blue butterfly It is an annual UK-wide survey organised by Butterfly Conservation. By taking part we can help them assess the health of our environment simply by counting the amountContinue reading "Join in the Big Butterfly Count"

Rare opportunity to see Purple Hairstreak butterflies close-up

Purple Hairstreak butterflies spend most of their adult phase living in the upper canopy of mature oak trees. Sometimes you can be lucky and see them close-up just after they emerge from their pupa at ground level. They settle on a twigs and shrubs to fully inflate their wings before flying high into the treetops.Continue reading "Rare opportunity to see Purple Hairstreak butterflies close-up"

Night owls wanted for Glow-worm hunt

Following up on our post on Glow-worms back in May we are going to start carrying out a few surveys to look for them in Renfrewshire. The first one will be this Thursday 7th June at Castle Semple Country Park in Lochwinnoch. I know it's short notice but if you don't have anything else onContinue reading "Night owls wanted for Glow-worm hunt"

Soil and climate change

You may wish to catch up on BBC Sounds, to an interesting programme broadcast on Tuesday 31st May on Radio 4, "Why soil matters". Jim Al-Khalili on The Life Scientific was interviewing Pete Smith, Science Director of ClimateXChange, Scotland's climate change centre of expertise. He is one of the world's leading experts on soil. HeContinue reading "Soil and climate change"