Enjoy a slow-paced, seasonal approach to learning common and confusing wildflowers with NHSN Ouse Burn Naturalist, James Common.

Overview

Course tutor: James Common

Course length: March-October 2027. Please check the shortened programme below*

Course structure: 8 field sessions

Course cost: £75 NHSN Members / £100 Non-Members

About This Course

Many beginner botanists quickly discover that some plant groups can feel especially daunting, whether it's tiny white brassicas, yellow "dandelion-like" flowers, forget-me-nots, willowherbs, grasses or plants that all seem frustratingly similar at first glance.

This slow-paced course is designed to make those more difficult groups feel approachable through gradual, seasonal learning, with all sessions taking place at NHSN's Gosforth Nature Reserve.

Rather than visiting a different site each time, we'll return to the reserve throughout the course, getting to know its varied habitats and the plants that grow there as the seasons change. By encountering the same species repeatedly, we'll build identification skills step by step, rather than trying to memorise a long list of unfamiliar plants in a single outing.

Each session will introduce new plant groups while revisiting familiar ones, allowing you to reinforce what you've already learned and gradually develop confidence.

Rather than simply learning names, we'll focus on the reliable features, patterns and structures that help botanists make sense of these plants in the field. We'll look at what to notice, which characters are useful and how to work through a group systematically, helping seemingly similar plants become much more manageable.

As the seasons progress, we'll also watch Gosforth Nature Reserve transform, from the first flush of spring growth and early wildflowers through to summer flowering plants and grasses. Returning to the same location throughout the year will give us the opportunity to see how plants emerge, flower, fruit and fade, while developing a deeper understanding of plant life cycles and seasonal change.

This course will include:

Key identification features of common plants and families

An introduction to some trickier plant groups

Tips on distinguishing distinctive species

Hands-on development of practical botanical skills in the field

Accessibility Information

The course involves a walk of approximately 1 mile around Gosforth Nature Reserve, including some rough and uneven ground. We will take the course at a relaxed pace, with plenty of opportunities to stop, pause and examine specimens in detail or key out plants together. Toilets are available on site, and parking is available at the reserve. Gosforth Nature Reserve is also accessible by public transport from Newcastle City Centre.

Programme of Dates:

Wednesday 24 March, 1pm-3.30pm

Wednesday 21 April, 1pm-3.30pm

Wednesday 19 May, 1pm-3.30pm

Wednesday 16 June, 1pm-3.30pm

Wednesday 28 July, 1pm-3.30pm

Wednesday 25 August, 1pm-3.30pm

Wednesday 22 September, 1pm-3.30pm

Wednesday 20 October, 1pm-3.30pm

Questions (and identification queries) are welcome at any time by emailing james.common@newcastle.ac.uk. Please read the terms and conditions (https://www.nhsn.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/NHSN-Education-Courses-Terms-Conditions-MASTER-December-2022-Copy.pdf) for NHSN education courses before booking.

Recommended Equipment:

If you have one, please bring a hand lens. If you have a favourite ID guide, please bring it. I would recommend either the WildGuides Wildflower Guide or, for more complicated groups, a copy of Clive Stace's New Flora of the British Isles (I will have one to hand).

About the tutor:

James works as Ouse Burn Naturalist at NHSN. Outside of work, he is a passionate wildlife recorder with a focus on botany (https://commonbynature.com/) and invertebrates. As a botanist, he is a joint BSBI Vice-County Recorder for North Northumberland and an iRecord verifier for South Northumberland.

Description supplied by the event organiser.