Sim Elliott

Lecanora sulphurea parasitising Tephromela atra on a silicious wall (imported stone) in a Sussex graveyard (Clayton)

An island of Tephromela atra in a sea of Ochrolechia parella; on a silicious wall (imported stone) on a wall of a Sussex Churchyard (Clayton). The black surround of the T. atra seems not to be its typical prothallus but a zone of antagonism warding off further encroachment from O. parella.

Once I had a meeting (as an advocate) with the owner of a chain of care homes, to get extra hours to support an adult with learning difficulties when showing. The staff in the care home, including the manager, were very poorly paid; I noted through the window that the owner arrived in a new Bentley

Paralecanographa grumulosa parasitising Dirina massiliensis f. sorediata on mortar round a window on the north wall of an old southern church near coast (its very restricted habitat); a rare example of a lichen which parasitises other lichens. Whilst nationally scarse I see it quite frequently

St John the Baptist, Clayton, W. Sussex. C11 with early C12 frescos of international importance. Christ in Judgment in Mandorla; one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse; hexagonal City of God. There's never anyone else inside when I visit. As important to the history of British art as Tate Britain.

Tiny and huge. Foreground Early Dog Violet, Viola reichenbachiana. Background, ancient Beech, Fagus Sylvatica. South Downs ancient woodland. @nationaltrust.org.uk Wolstonbury Hill

Firsts for 2026. Town Hall Clock, Adoxa moschatellina; Bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta; Wood Anemone, Anemonoides nemorosa; Early Dog-violet, Viola reichenbachiana. All ancient woodland indicators; all in ancient woodland shaw on @nationaltrust.org.uk Wolstonbury Hill, South Downs, West Sussex

Hazel Flower, South Downs, East Sussex.

Co-evolution. Small pollinators for small flowers; big pollinators for for big flowers! A Pollen Beetle, Meligethes sp., for a Dandelion, Taraxacum sp. Buff-tail Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, for Red dead-nettle, Lamium purpureum; South Downs, East Sussex.

Linnet, Corn Bunting, Skylark. On South Downs nr. Lewes. Corn Buntings are doing well on this path. I captured the Skylark by following it in song-flight and seeing where it landed; typically they are invisible when they land but this one landed on a hillock. #birds @sussexornitholo.bsky.social

2/2 marking a parish boundary. Some of the Oaks are veterans. Aside from Ramalina farinacea, and Evernia prunastri, typical of Sussex Quercus robur, there is also a lot of Usnea cornuta on the Oaks. It's a magical combe.

1/2 Ashcombe Bottom, @nationaltrust.org.uk nr Lewes East Sussex (South Down coombe woodland) is not ancient but it is remarkable. Nearly all the Oaks (rare on chalk) have abundant Polypody; & some Elder & Hawthorne does too. There are very old enormous coppiced Hazel stools. and near the top, Ash

Ashcombe Windmill, near Kingston, in a sea fret, coming over the Downs, from Lewes' former racecourse.

Egyptian Geese flying in to Creekmouth, River Thames, Barking, London. Photographed from the Barking Riverside Thames Clipper Pier. The post-industrial landscape of the Thames estuary provide foraging opportunities for ducks, geese and waders. I saw Brent Geese and Oystercatchers too

Demon with Bowl, Damien Hirst, Greenwich Peninsula, London, from Thames Clipper Quay.

Barking Riverside, previously named Creekmouth; a regeneration of the site of the former Barking Power Station. It has a huge well-deigned station and lots of housing being built; hopefully reasonably affordable. I'm not convinced that "A place like no other" is the best advertising slogan!

1859-1995 St Francis. Haywards Heath. A "mental asylum" for Sussex. Designed by Henry Kendall with a corridor plan; longest building in Sussex. Must've been hell. My great-uncle died there from suicide. I only found out he existed 10 years ago. My family didn't talk about mental health. Now housing

Lovely ancient Pedunculate Oak. Scrase Valley Local Nature Reserve, Haywards Heath. West Sussex

Relict High Weald woodland in Clair Park in the middle of Haywards Heath. Magnificent Pedunculate Oaks. Haywards Heath was in the middle of the Andredsweald in Saxon times.

First Peacock, Aglais io, of 2026. I love it in the spring when you see the first butterflies of the new season. But not a "new" butterfly but a butterfly that has just emerged from its overwintering diapause, a state of torpor. Racton. West Sussex

Two of the corbels on the Chichester Market Cross; commissioned by Edward Story, Bishop of Chichester from 1477 to 1503. Built so that the poor people should have somewhere to sell their wares.

Stupendous, ancient Sweet Chestnut, Yew & Pedunculate Oak in Racton Park Farm. West Sussex. Clue is in the name, "park", did some research: whilst now a farm it was part of Stansted Estate deer park. Still pasture woodland, now grazed by cattle, which produces giant ancient trees when well managed.

Fabulous relict hedgerow with ancient Pedunculate Oak, Beech and Sweet Chestnut. Between the Racton Monument, built by George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax; and the C17 Stansted House, Rowlands Castle, built for Lord Lumely 1st Earl of Scarborough. West Sussex

Time flies; with the lichens Circinaria contorta, Diploicia canescens and Xanthoria parietina; on a grave stone in Racton St Peter's graveyard West Sussex; the parish has only a few cottages. Aisleless church with C12 nave & C13 chancel. The west end was altered in the C14; with C15 to C17 windows.

"The Watchdog" by Joachim in Chichester. He painted a cat here before. Some people complained that it encouraged ant-socila behaviour, so the council painted over it. Then more people than the moaners said they liked it and the council commissioned Joachim to do something else: to keep people safe!

Racton Monument was built by Lord Halifax as a folly in C18. Now ruined; looks super creepy! Nr Funtington, West Sussex. Its in a strip of ancient woodland with lots of Butcher's Broom & Bluebells; and Ancient Oak and Chestnut.

Another whopper Quercus robur, Pedunculate Oak, in the churchyard of St George’s Brede yesterday. Pedunculate Oaks are one of Sussex's glories.

Black Spleenwort, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. Such a pretty fern. On the walls of St George's Brede, East Sussex. Its not rare at all but I don't see it much. I think that's because it often gets removed from church walls; probrably its main substrate. Well done St George's for leaving it.

As well as going to Brede to see the stunning Early English St George's Church, I went to see the Grade II listed 1901 Water Works with its modillion cornice, and lunettes above. As a child, my dad, an LCC/GLC architect, took me to see many public buildings; I still like public architecture.

Very pretty Flavoparmelia sorediens on worked wood (fence rail) at Brede, East Sussex. Nearly all the F. sorediens I have seen has been on fence rails. #lichenGBI