Blogs by Chris & Jude Gibson published on this site, with links, since October 2016. Just click on any of the pictures to see a full-sized version.
Most of them are heavily photo-based, and maybe don’t contain much in the way of campaigning messages. Apart from the most important message of all, given the Extinction Crisis which is underway: nature in all its glories is still out there to inspire us. Hopefully our words and pictures will help to enthuse others to look after what we have and leave a better world for those who come after us.
January 2022
#WildEssex Walks: Trees in Winter – buds and bark
#WildEssex New Year Plant Hunt 2022
December 2021
#BirdsByBarge on the Stour Estuary in midwinter…
November 2021
#WildWivenhoe Bug & Botany walks: a crisp winter’s day at the Naze
The grassland fungi of Wivenhoe’s New Cemetery
The Wild Side of Essex: day tours of the Essex coast with Naturetrek in November
The last fires of autumn in Kew Gardens
Exploring the innermost corners of the Essex coast – from Purfleet to the River Lee
October 2021
#WildWivenhoe Bug & Botany Walks – autumn in Wivenhoe Park
An October week in #WildEssex with Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays
September 2021
The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: September – autumn approaches
#WildBrightlingsea Bug & Botany Walks – All Saints Churchyard and Moverons Lane
Autumn approaches on the River Crouch
August 2021
To the fringes of the tide in old Essex – Three Mills and the Olympic Park
The Beth Chatto Gardens as summer starts to fade…
The Wild Side of Essex: day tours of the Colne Estuary with Naturetrek in August
Wrabness Nature Reserve on a summer’s evening
#BringingNatureToYou : branching out to Furze Hill, Mistley
July 2021
The Wild Side of Essex: day tours with Naturetrek in July
Landscapes and Lifescapes of South Essex
The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: High Summer
#WildWivenhoe Bug & Botany Walks: Lower Lodge
A Dream come True – the Wallasea Wild Coast
Midsummer in Cambridge Botanic Garden
June 2021
The Wild Side of Essex: Hockley Woods in June with Naturetrek
The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens – midsummer madness, and a few damp squibs…
#WildBrightlingsea Bug & Botany Walks – Rope Walk and Brightlingsea Creek
Intensive farming doesn’t have to erase wildlife: Fairfields Farming Company
Layer Breton Heath: Nature Returns …
After the storm – Beth Chatto Gardens
The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens : new blog
#WildWivenhoe Bug & Botany Walks: Cockaynes Reserve
Return to my conservation roots: the delights of south Essex
A hot day on the Deben Peninsula
#WildBrightlingsea Botany & Bug Walks – the Lido to the Lozenge
May 2021
A week in #WildEssex with Honeyguide
The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens – tumbling towards summer…
The Wild Side of Essex: day tours of the Colne Estuary with Naturetrek in May
The Wild Side of Essex: day tours of the Naze with Naturetrek in May
#WildBrightlingsea – branching out with our Bug & Botany walks
#WildWivenhoe Bug & Botany Walks: The Wivenhoe cemeteries
April 2021
The Wild Side of Essex: day tours of the Naze with Naturetrek in April
The Wild Side of Essex: day tours of the Colne Estuary with Naturetrek in April
The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens – the chills of April
A Year in the southern Suffolk Sandlings with Greenwings: April – Spring steals in…
#WildWivenhoe Bug & Botany Walks: Back in Action! The KGV and wildlife garden
The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens – late March heatwave
March 2021
The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens
The Beth Chatto Gardens: on the starting blocks of Spring…
February 2021
Signs of Spring: Nature Cure at Cockaynes
Beth Chatto’s Garden: the rebirth of Spring
January 2021
Book Review – Thirteen Paces by Four: Backyard Biophilia and the Emerging Earth Ethic
December 2020
Giving a Voice to the Wildlife of the Essex Coast
The Wild Side of Essex: Day tours with Naturetrek – December
November 2020
Essex Field Club and the Essex Naturalist
Sustainable cotton clothing: Fraser Wear
October 2020
The Wild Side of Essex: Day tours of The Naze and Walton Backwaters with Naturetrek – October
Cockaynes in late Autumn #WildWivenhoe
Late October in the Beth Chatto Gardens: after the deluge…
The Wild Side of Essex: Day tours of the Colne with Naturetrek in October
September 2020
The Wild Side of Essex: Day tours of the Colne with Naturetrek in September
Greenwings in the southern Suffolk Sandlings
#WildWivenhoe Bug & Botany Walks: Awayday to the southern Suffolk Sandlings
September in the Beth Chatto Gardens
#WildWivenhoe Bug & Botany Walks: September – Barrier Marsh, The Chase, ant-hills and more…
August 2020
The Wild Side of Essex: day tours with Naturetrek in August
Late August in the Beth Chatto Gardens
Great News from Beth Chatto’s!
#WildWivenhoeBotany & Bug Walks: August – a tentative return to Lower Lodge
July 2020
The southern Suffolk Sandlings
Wildlife on the Farm: an organic perspective
High Summer in the Beth Chatto Gardens: a butterfly bonanza
Jude’s Nature Diary: Botany & Bugs (and more!) on your Doorstep – mid July
High Summer in the Cockaynes Reserve
Lockdown Localism – finding rare and special invertebrates close to home
The Beth Chatto Gardens: standing in for the Spanish Pyrenees!
June 2020
Lockdown diary: Gallery updates
Lockdown diary: #ReasonsToBeCheerful in #WildWivenhoe and elsewhere – June
Lockdown diary: Botany & Bugs (and more!) on your Doorstep – late June
Return to the Beth Chatto Gardens….
Lockdown diary: Botany & Bugs (and more!) on your Doorstep – mid June
All Saints’ Churchyard, Dovercourt: Bugs and more in #GodsAcre
May 2020
Lockdown diary: #ReasonsToBeCheerful in #WildWivenhoe – late May
Lockdown diary: Botany & Bugs (and more!) on your Doorstep – late May
Lockdown diary: Heading towards summer in Cockaynes Reserve
Lockdown diary: the Beth Chatto gardens on this day in 2013
Lockdown: time to remember the Pyrenees…
Lockdown diary: #ReasonsToBeCheerful in #WildWivenhoe – early May
Lockdown diary: Botany & Bugs (and more!) on your Doorstep – mid May
Lockdown diary: Return to Barrier Marsh
Lockdown diary: Cockaynes – after the rain
Lockdown diary: Dawn Chorus today in #wildWivenhoe
April 2020
Lockdown diary: #ReasonsToBeCheerful in #WildWivenhoe – the second three weeks
Lockdown diary: the Beth Chatto Gardens on this day in 2007
Lockdown diary: Botany & Bugs (and more!) on your Doorstep – late April
Lockdown diary: The Beth Chatto Gardens – rewind five years…
Lockdown diary: Return to Cockaynes
Lockdown diary: Cockaynes Reserve, our #NaturalHealthService
Lockdown diary: In praise of Alexanders…
Lockdown diary: #ReasonsToBeCheerful in #wildWivenhoe – the first three weeks
Lockdown diary: Botany & Bugs (and more!) on your Doorstep – early April
Lockdown diary: The Bolt-holes of Wivenhoe Shipyard Jetty
March 2020
Lockdown Diary: Botany & Bugs (and more!) on your Doorstep
Lockdown diary: The Ant-hills of Barrier Marsh
Lockdown diary: In praise of flowery lawns…
Beth Chatto Gardens – on this day in history…..
Beth Chatto Gardens – springtime antidote
Life on the Garden Fence – the Virgin Bagworm
Beth Chatto Gardens – is it Spring yet?
Gardening with Wildlife in Mind
Lichenscapes, Groundscapes, Beachscapes and Reflectascapes
February 2020
Murder at the Garden Pond: Thalia dealbata – the (not very) beautiful assassin
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: February awayday to the Naze
January 2020
Beth Chatto Gardens – sunlight and shadows
Beth Chatto Gardens: the reawakening of the year
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: January – trees in winter
December 2019
The Beth Chatto Gardens throughout the Seasons: December – after the election, Nature Cure
November 2019
Cockaynes Reserve – landscapes, wildscapes and groundscapes dressed in the fires of autumn
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: November – autumn trees and fungi in Wivenhoe Park
October 2019
The Swiss Alps by train: joining the 6% club
Return to Gunnersbury Triangle: wasp galls on an oak tree
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: October – Cockaynes Wood
September 2019
The Beth Chatto Gardens throughout the Seasons: September
Standing up for Phyllis Currie Reserve – September
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug walks: September – Ferry Marsh, after The Flood
August 2019
Our new toy – a compact portable moth trap
Standing up for Phyllis Currie Reserve – August
The Beth Chatto Gardens throughout the seasons: August
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug walks: August – The Shipyard and Barrier Marsh at dusk
July 2019
The Beth Chatto Garden throughout the seasons: July
High summer butterflies & moths (and much else!) of the Spanish Pyrenees
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug walks: July – the wild side of Wivenhoe town
#WildWivenhoe: Burnets, butterflies, beetles and bountiful blooming at Lower Lodge
June 2019
Plants hiding on our doorstep…
The Beth Chatto Garden throughout the seasons: June
Standing up for the Phyllis Currie Reserve: early June
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: June – the leaves are alive on Lower Lodge
May 2019
The Beth Chatto Garden through the seasons: May
A short break in Manchester and Chester
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: May – Cockaynes Reserve
Standing up for the Phyllis Currie Reserve
April 2019
Extinction Rebellion: #WeAreWinning
The Beth Chatto Garden throughout the seasons: April
Basking bugs and beasties – Wivenhoe Wildlife Garden
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: April – the woods in Spring
March 2019
Jude’s Rubbish Diary – Episode 2
The Beth Chatto Garden throughout the seasons: March
In the foothills of the Atlas: Southern Morocco
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: March – searching for signs of Spring along the Wivenhoe Trail
February 2019
Guest Blog: Jude’s Rubbish Diary – Episode 1
The Beth Chatto Garden through the seasons: February
Botanical Awakenings: Turkish Hazel
January 2019
A New Year springs in the Beth Chatto Garden
December 2018
Three days of World Heritage in the North…(Saltaire and Durham)
November 2018
Autumn at its best in The Beth Chatto Garden
October 2018
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: October – King George V Field, Wivenhoe Wood & Ferry Marsh
Book Review: The Orphaned Spaces
September 2018
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: September – Grange Wood & Whitehouse Beach
Late Summer in the French Pyrénées
August 2018
Mothman returns…. (moth trapping in North Norfolk)
WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: August – Whitehouse Beach
July 2018
Midsummer in the Western Rhodopes: All Kinds of Everything…
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: July – Lower Lodge
Butterflies and Moths of the Spanish Pyrenees
June 2018
Faeries at the bottom of the (pub) garden (the River Colne at Aldham)
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: June – 41 Acres
King George V Playing Field : the new wildflower meadows #wildwivenhoe
May 2018
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: May, to Barrier Marsh and Grange Wood
Unravelling the mysteries of our Bluebells
Wildlife Galore in Cockaynes Reserve
Spring in the Spanish Pyrenees: a cornucopia of biodiversity
The Gunnersbury Triangle: antidote to the modern world?
April 2018
#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: April in Cockaynes Reserve
Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 2 – Return of the Bee-fly
Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 3 – the ‘little white jobs’
Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 4 – an ever-changing tapestry of colour
March 2018
Signs of Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 7
Furze Hill, Mistley: home to the Ancients
Signs of Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 8
The Beth Chatto Gardens: beyond the flowers…
Canvey Wick: the accidental nature reserve
Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 1: The saga of Ferry Marsh
February 2018
Signs of Spring in Wild Wivenhoe
Signs of Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 2
Signs of Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 3
Signs of Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 4
Signs of Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 5
Signs of Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 6: Arrival of ‘The Beast’
October 2017
Late autumn in West Cork: the calm after the storms
September 2017
The Devil has all the best tunes…
July 2017
October 2016
The Curate’s Egg: my reflections on leaving Natural England, part 1
The Curate’s Egg: my reflections on leaving Natural England, part 2
A Magical Menorcan Autumn – ‘step by step’ to a greener future
Wonderful Wildlife Art at the Mall Galleries: ‘a glimpse of the wild in the heart of London’