Encouragement for last minute collectors

A weird Peltigera (dog lichen) similar to some I found last weekend. CC Ryane Snow

 It's not quite the last minute. You still have a couple of weeks. I'm not being funny, it is entirely the case that you could yet achieve good things with this assignment. You just need to pick something that interests you, and make time to find some specimens, scribble about them in your notebook, identify them, display them, and write a little monograph about them. Not as easy as if you'd started a while back. But much more satisfying than trying to write a last minute essay. And easier to figure out what you have to do to get a good mark, by all accounts.

Today I helped a freshly minted lichenologist. She'd brought in a couple of species on a twig. We went for a little walk in the sunshine and quickly found a few more.

Recognising them is one thing, you might say, but identifying them is another. Ah, but the happy thing about lichens (and many other groups of organisms) is that certain species tend to be found in certain habitats. Before she arrived I took a bit of time to mug up the species on the FSC's Key to Lichens on Twigs. I was aghast to find that I didn't recognise half of them very well. I realised this is because I spend too much of my time breathing city air where most lichens aren't tough enough to live. I might be getting away with an air of knowledgeability because certain species keep turning up locally.

But this is a good thing - for you - because many of the species you find will be from a limited pool. Don't be put off by the overwhelming number that exist across the country.

Lecidella elaeochroma, one of today's haul. Note the black margins where the lichens fight for space. CC image Jymm.

In addition to the FSC key, you can use Nimis, Wolseley and Martellos's 'Key to common lichens on trees in England' (I've printed some off if you want to borrow a paper copy). It seemed to be quite user-friendly when we were using it this afternoon. It's a dichotomous key, which you might want to show markers you can use in addition to the parallel key on the FSC guide.

I always recommend Alan Silverside's lichen site for reliable pictures and descriptions, and you can also see photos on the British Lichens website.

You want to arrange your species so they're in taxonomic groups - you can check that with the database on the Natural History Museum website.

We have an amazing new Leica microscope with camera here, and I would very much like to make some useful guides to local common species to help students in future. I waved off the Madagascar field trippers today (with the 27 crates I'd packed... byeeee) so one can only hope for some downtime. Hah, unlikely. But I am more than happy to help any of you with your last minute taxonomic anguish. Please do come and see me.

Finally... Spring.

It's been busy here. I've been losing the plot a bit. But today is the Spring Equinox and this gives me hope.

Last weekend my sister and I got out in the drizzle to a woodland in Somerset. We were out looking for snails. Yes, we do this for fun in our spare time.

And we found many snails and their empty shells. Specifically, lots of Copse snail shells (Arianta arbustorum) and many live Door snails of some sort or other (very tall and pointy) climbing up and down the tree trunks. If you haven't started your collection yet, but you want to collect lots of different species and get a good mark - I think snails is a good choice.

Speckly shelled Copse snail CC image by Kristian Pikner

We also saw a lot of mosses and liverworts. I love mosses and liverworts (I might have mentioned this before). The keys are not easy. It's going to hurt your head a bit more than snails. But if you like staring down a microscope at the interesting and varied shapes of leaves, all bright green and lovely - then consider giving mosses a go. They're certainly easy enough to find, so you won't have to worry about having enough species to submit.

Plagiomnium undulatum. Reminiscent of miniature seaweed. In a wood. CC Bernd Haynold.

Another thing we saw much of was lichen. There were some excellent examples of Graphis scripta. It's supposed to look like writing. Presumably writing etched by tiny little tree elves or something. Lichen is around all year and it doesn't run away from you. If you fancy getting into something a bit weird, lichen could be for you.

Graphis scripta with its long 'lirellate' fruiting bodies. CC Ed Uebel.

There were also trees in the wood of course, and a rather unusual cross between pollarding and coppicing that produced so-called Stoggles. If you're collecting twigs, then if you find yourself in such a habitat, it'd be worth sketching and writing about in your notebook. I'm expecting delivery soon of a new winter twigs book by Bernd Schulz. It's supposed to be released in April so perhaps it'll even arrive before your hand-in date.

This may not be the world's most inspiring post. But the turn of the year is a sign that I will be getting back outside and recollecting my sanity, and that you now have the opportunity to get out there and practise your naturalist / taxonomic collector's skills. There's still time for you to produce something really good. Try to make it as good as you can and you will get a good mark (plus the satisfaction of learning something interesting). Onward and upward.