Paisley – Paisley Natural History Society

Outing at Dykebar and Hollybush, Paisley

group of people wearing waterproofs and carrying umbrellas in a woodland standing next to a log on the ground

14 June 2025 A small group of six, brave enough to come out, despite the wet weather, set off through the woodland shelterbelt at Dykebar hoping to get protection from the rain. The plan wasn’t as effective as we’d hoped, but without the downpour we would never have seen what turned out to be theContinueContinue reading “Outing at Dykebar and Hollybush, Paisley”

Festival Celebrating Renfrewshire Biodiversity

poster for Biodiversity family fun day with images of insects and illustration of a hedgehog

Art is Ecology! Festival Celebrating Renfrewshire Biodiversity Come and join us to celebrate ‘International Day for Biological Diversity’ from 11am-3pm Saturday, 17 May at Tannahill Community Centre and Library, 76 Blackstoun Road, Paisley. Paisley Museum and Art Gallery and the Open University welcome Renfrewshire folks of all ages and interests to this free event. It’sContinueContinue reading “Festival Celebrating Renfrewshire Biodiversity “

Dawn Chorus Walk

Group of people standing in Woodland at low light wearing waterproofs and binoculars

As far as we know there’s never been an organised dawn chorus walk at Jenny’s Well Local Nature Reserve before, so we needed to put that right! It was about 04:50 when I arrived at Jenny’s Well Road, to see that two or three other PNHS folks had already turned up. Over the next 10ContinueContinue reading “Dawn Chorus Walk”

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”

Braving the weather on a New Year Plant Hunt

Large red multi-storey building next to a river which has burst its banks and two swans standing on the grass in the foreground

Every year the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI) organise a New Year Plant Hunt. All you have to do is spend a couple of hours looking for wild plants in flower between 29 December 2024 to 1st January 2025. Ours was arranged for 31st December. It is a lovely way to spend aContinueContinue reading “Braving the weather on a New Year Plant Hunt”

Beginners’ Botany with Michael Philip at Thornly Park

A group of people standing in a grassy area surrounded by trees

A group of 7 members gathered for this evening walk on 5th June, to learn about botany in the grassland adjacent to South Avenue, Paisley. It was led by Michael Philip, Vice-county Co-recorder for Lanarkshire (vc77) and co-ordinator of the Renfrewshire Vice-county (vc76) Botany Network. Rather than repeat the same route as last year, weContinueContinue reading “Beginners’ Botany with Michael Philip at Thornly Park”

Report on winter tree id walk at Jenny’s Well

Group of 11 people standing around a path next to a holly bush with mature leafless trees behind

Thirteen tree-lovers gathered at Jenny’s Well on a pleasant, if chilly, Sunday afternoon on 18th February, for a spot of winter tree identifying. We were accompanied by Matt and May, from the Friends of Jenny’s Well, who were doing a litter pick round the site. Kirsty, who led the walk, helped by Judy, had previouslyContinueContinue reading “Report on winter tree id walk at Jenny’s Well”

New Year plant hunt

Two people dressed in waterproofs wearing backpacks and woolly hats bending over looking at plants on the ground. They are standing at the edge of a cobbled lane with stone walls on either side.

Plans for outings are always at the mercy of the weather at this time of year. However, on the morning of the 30th December, the weather looked promising, some sleat was forecast but otherwise it was a dry, clear day. Seven people showed up looking forward to hunting for for wild plants in flower around Oakshaw, Paisley. ContinueContinue reading “New Year plant hunt”

Report on Green Hairstreak outing at Sergeantlaw Moss

Green Hairstreak, Green-veined White and Orange-tip butterflies, at Sergeantlaw, May 2023 A report on our outing to Sergeantlaw Moss has now been uploaded to our Outing Reports. We had a good turnout of people for the walk, but not of the Green Hairstreak butterflies. Typically, the weather had been very wet the day before andContinueContinue reading “Report on Green Hairstreak outing at Sergeantlaw Moss”

Mistle Thrush Mystery

Last December, a Mistle Thrush took up residence in our back garden. Or rather, it took over our garden! It was clearly distinguishable from its cousin the Song Thrush by its larger size and more horizontal spots, but mainly by its bold aggressive behaviour. It sat alert at the top of our rowan tree, likeContinueContinue reading “Mistle Thrush Mystery”