Flora and Fauna of Regency Britain - November

I called my mum on Sunday. Well of course that's nothing new. I call her every Sunday. She lives in England and I live in Canada, and we keep in as close contact as we can. One of the things I wanted to talk to her about was my topic. After all, how much easier can it get, ask the person who lives there.

She was tellling me that the climate is definitely changing, though. And that will have a huge impact on wildlife and trees. She just happened to be watching a program on the Caerngorms and they were talking about the lack of snow. So it pays to be careful when doing research, even about something as simple as nature. Things change.

I talked a bit about the weather on Friday. Here is some stuff about the natural world for November from the Naturists Diary of the times:

November

This is, usually, a wet, cold and gloomy month; storms of wind and rain confine us to the house, and admonish us in the morning to
seek amusement in the well-furnished library or museum, and to devote our evenings to music and the charms of intellectual society.


The Virginia-creeper has now a very rich and beautiful appearance. Mushrooms are collected inabundance in this month. The congregating of small birds, which was noticed as commencing in October, still continues; and the long-tailed
titmouse is seen in troops in the tall hedge rows. The stock-dove, one of the latest winter birds of passage, arrives from more northern regions towards the end of this month.


Moles now make their nests, where they lodge during the winter, and which are ready for depositing their young in the spring.Moles do not hibernate but remain active day or night all year long. During the winter, the mole will continue its quest for food deep below the frost line.

I had planned to give you a picture of a rookery, to show the similarity between those nests and the slums of London at this time. There was a rookery in the trees outside one of the houses I lived in as a child.

Guess what? Rooks seem to be rare. I will keep looking for a picture, and when I find one, I will post it. In the meantime, think about our birds. They really are on the decline.

This is my ramble for November, together with my post on the weather last week.

Thursday, we are going to look at some more clothing.

After that, would you like to look at some houses? Do say yes.

Happy rambles.