One of the many things I love about living in East Lancashire is to look closely at our stone walls. The wildlife to be found growing on them and living in the cracks is often of great interest and I am surprised that so few people study them.

The Maidenhair Spleenwort is very common, adds colour to our walls and its name indicates it once had a medical use.

In the old days, people thought that when a plant had the same shape as a human organ then it could be used to care it. We have Heartease pansy and liverwort whereas the spleenwort has a shape like a human spleen.

If folk suffered from what seemed to be something related to the spleen then it was eaten but there does not seem to be anything to support this suggestion.

Lichens add colour to most of our walls. They are not one plant but a combination of two. The first was a fungus which makes up the body of the combination and produces a sticky substance which adheres to the wall. Then there is a green algae partner which produces food from sunlight. The partnership is known to scientists as symbiosis. This means “living together for the mutual benefit of both”.

A NIGHT ON OWL WATCH

Six years ago a friend of mine whose hobby is ringing birds took me with him to watch a family of young barn owls being ringed.

This week he contacted me to say that he had found one of these birds in the Ribble Valley.

I had a wonderful evening waiting in an old barn for two barn owls to arrive.

He told me just where I should sit to get photographs without disturbing the birds.

It is absolutely vital that the welfare of our wildlife takes priority over photography.

There was enough light for me to see how powerful the feet and the claws of the barn owl are.

The birds kill their prey by means of their claws. their diet consists of small mammals.

When they arrived I think they must have eaten because they looked to be very contented.

Flash photography does not worry wildlife because they are used to lighting and so my night watch was very exciting. As I left them the birds were preparing for a quiet night.

PLANT OF THE WEEK: MARSH MARIGOLD

I do love it when nature proves me wrong! Everybody thinks that the Marsh Marigold is a spring flower. Nature proved me wrong and in the middle of this month I found the plant in full bloom on the banks of the River Ribble. I’ve seen the plant with a few flowers on it in July but so many blooms in August is something of a surprise.

The reason why the Marsh Marigold is a plant of cold weather is because it was the first flower to appear at the end of the Ice Age. It is also the most simple in structure of all flowers and it has petals but no sepals. It can only grow close to water and if anyone is silly enough to pick it, it wilts within minutes.