lichens – Paisley Natural History Society

Gleniffer Braes Lichen Outing

Group of people standing chatting at an open gate next to an old mossy wall

On Saturday 18th January 2025 Eleven people met at the Nethercraigs Road entrance to the country park for the third of the now annual lichen walks run by the society. Most were members of the society but we also had one person from the local British Lichen Society group. The intention of this walk wasContinueContinue reading “Gleniffer Braes Lichen Outing”

Book review: The Lives of Lichens: A Natural History by Lucking & Spribille

Review by Craig Postlethwaite This is the first general, wide audience book onlichens that has been published for nearly 25 years. The older books (Understanding Lichens by Baronand New Naturalist 86: Lichens by Gibbons) werewritten before modern techniques such as DNAsequencing allowed a greater understanding of the complexities of lichens so a new book isContinueContinue reading “Book review: The Lives of Lichens: A Natural History by Lucking & Spribille”

British Lichen Society outing to Neilston Pad

twig with a number of different lichens one bushy, one foliose and the rest crust-like with colours ranging from grey, orange and black

There is a BLS Strathclyde Group outing on Thursday 15th August at Neilston Pad. They are meeting at 10:00 at the car park on the bend of Harelaw Road, near the pigging station (Grid Ref NS 472 543). This is an all-day (until 15:00ish anyway) event where they will be looking to record rather thanContinueContinue reading “British Lichen Society outing to Neilston Pad”

Glow-worm weekend on Isle of Cumbrae

Close-up of a beetle with two lower segments of its body glowing bright green and perched in a grassy area.

22-23 June 2024 Fintry Bay We arrived on the Isle of Cumbrae at lunch time and headed over to the Fintry Bay Café, with beautiful views over the Clyde Estuary. After a delicious lunch we made our way along the coast towards Millport and discovered the walking track uphill to Millport Golf Club. Our routeContinueContinue reading “Glow-worm weekend on Isle of Cumbrae”

Some outings for your diary

Hand holding a twig with a large pointed reddish brown bud at the end

First outing of the new Strathclyde Lichens Group Dave Mellor is leading a lichen trip to Shieldhill Glen on Tuesday 12th March.It’s an outing of the newly formed Strathclyde Lichens Group and will be meeting at the Cornalees Bridge car park, Greenock Cut Visitor Centre at 10.00 am.Anyone interested in joining in should email DaveContinueContinue reading “Some outings for your diary”

Report on lichen outing at Muirshiel Country Park

Group of people wearing waterproof clothing, bending over looking at pale lichen growing on a log covered in moss

Craig Postlethwaite led another excellent walk for the society, sharing his knowledge about lichens. There was a very good turn out for the walk on 27th January. Not put off by the bitterly cold winds we dawdled along the track examining lichens on logs, trees and stone walls. Craig has written this report on the walk and includedContinueContinue reading “Report on lichen outing at Muirshiel Country Park”

Help with Lichens

Offer of Zoom sessions and short outings Following the talk he gave for PNHS in November, Craig Postlethwaite has offered to run a few short zoom calls to show common lichens and the relevant identification characteristics from the Field Studies Council guides e.g. terminal soredia on Parmelia sulcata. He could then follow up with aContinueContinue reading “Help with Lichens”

Report on lichen walk

Do you know your Peltigeras from your Cladonias? If not, Craig Postlethwaite has written up a report on the lichen walk he led for PNHS members on 26 February. Examining lichens, Gleniffer Braes Country Park, 26 Feb 2023 For those who weren’t able to come along, or for those of us who did but didn’tContinueContinue reading “Report on lichen walk”

Glen Park Lichen Walk

PNHS member, Craig Postlethwaite, is leading a lichen walk this Sunday, 26th February and any members interested in learning more about lichens and their identification is welcome to come along. The group will meet at 09:30am at the car park off Braehead Road on the way up to Paisley Golf Club, NS472606 (see location inContinueContinue reading “Glen Park Lichen Walk”

New Year Activities

If you’ve been inclined to hibernate over the festive period, make a point of coming out for our first meeting of 2023, this coming Thursday 5th January. Angus Hogg will be talking about birds of the Outer Hebrides and will be certain to inspire us to get out and look at wildlife and plan some outings of ourContinueContinue reading “New Year Activities”