Flora and Fauna
The Giant Spear-Nosed Bat
False Vampires
True bats of the world
The Pipistrelle, Barbastelle
Bumblebee and Bulldog Bats
The Dog-faced, Hog-faced
Mouse-eared and Rat-tailed
Club-footed, Hare-lipped
Lump-nosed and Bent-winged
The Fig-eating, Tent-building
Natterers and Grabflatterer Bats.
The Whiskered Bat, Moustached Bat
Shaggy-haired, Hairy-legged
Lappet-eared and Hammer-headed;
The Sucker-footed, Hollow-faced
Tube-nosed, Funnel-eared
Lobe-lipped, Thumbless
Wing-gland and Clinging Bats.
The Bonneted Bat, the Domed-palate Mastiff
The Sword-nosed, Spear-nosed
Slit-faced, Notch-eared and Groove-lipped;
The Silver-haired, Wrinkle-faced
White-lined and Horny-skinned
The Tomb Bat, Ghost Bat
And predictably pasty Pallid Bat.
The Heart-nosed False Vampire
And Greater Naked-backed Bats;
The Long-fingered, Thick-thumbed
Big-lipped and Broad-winged
Little-collared, Dwarf Epauletted,
Flower-faced, and Leaf-chinned.
© Germander Speedwell July 2008 (2008 being Year of the Bat!)
These are all names of bat species from around the world. Many have bizarre facial shapes and appendages, and are genuinely deserving of their curious names. The False Vampire family of bats are so-named from their grotesque appearance which inspired the image of the vampire in fiction, however this group of bats are not true vampires but merely insect and invertebrate eaters.
Germander Speedwell
List of pieces, and a few sample lines from each:
SWARM TRAPS AND BEE DROPS
Apian behaviour, beekeeping paraphernalia and colony loss language.
"...Bee brush, brace comb
Straw skep, swarm trap
Chalkbrood, Check-Mite
Bee drops and fake fires..."
SOUNDINGS
Human descriptions and interpretations of the songs and calls of birds found in the Thames Estuary (from the Soundings from the Estuary project).
"...A squeaked "pseep", a liquid "twit",
a jingle of keys, a rusty lock
a twisting hinge and metallic "clink"..."
SIGHTINGS
Reports of birds, and other flighted activity, in the Thames Estuary (from the Soundings from the Estuary project).
"...Avocet Egg Watch, Pipits on pit-stops,
Godwits on slipway, and ducks flushed from ditches;
Peregrines on pylons, Sandpipers in puddles,
Redshank on mudflats and Fieldfare in paddocks..."
FALSE VAMPIRES
True bat names of the world. See full version below.
"...The Sucker-footed, Hollow-faced, Tube-nosed, Funnel-eared
Lobe-lipped, Thumbless, Wing-gland and Clinging Bats..."
THRISTLE MUSH
Local / vernacular names of the characterful Mistle Thrush.
"...Thin-thresher, Screech-drossle, Gawthrush, Charcock, Storm Bird, Skirlock,
Jeremy Joy, Butcher-bird and Jaypie..."
BRYODIVERSITY
The uncommon 'common' names of British Mosses.
"...The Fuzzy Fork, Frizzled Crisp, Petty Pocket,
Twiggy Spear and Flabby Thread...."
LESSER-SPOTTED LEPIDOPTERA
The neglected splendour of British moths.
"...The Maiden's Blush, the True Lover's Knot, the Dark Dagger, Pod Lover,
The Bloodvein, the Gothic, and the Death's-Head Hawk Moth..."
GABBLE RATCHET
Local/vernacular names of British birds.
"Yaffle, Yuckel, Eccle and Yockel
Pick-a-tree, Hew Hole, Nicker Pecker, Wood Hack..."
PENNY BUN or POISON PIE
The possible perils of inaccurate fungi identification: names of British fungi, with a recipe for Cep Soup, and symptoms of Death Cap poisoning.
"...Witches Butter, Batchelor's Buttons, Old Man of the Woods and Dead Man's Fingers
Bleeding Mycena, Amethyst Deceiver, Bitter Bolete and False Morel..."
RESIDENTS, MIGRANTS AND VAGRANTS
Ornithology and vagrancy, and a crescendo of bird sounds.
"...A chiff-chaffing, a chough choughing,
a crow coughing, craw crawing, and a ringing sobbing..."
DEAD HEADINGS
The curiously specific world of botanical terminology and plant naming.
"...A pendulous sedge, sprawling sanicle, ramping fumitory and spreading panicle!"
BLIGHT
Plant disorders, diseases and pests.
"...Fruit drop, butt rot, bark split, bitter pit..."
MERMAIDS' PURSES
Coastal and sea life of Britain.
"Cuttlefish, Stickleback, Dabberlocks and Bladder Wrack..."
A SPINKIE DEN
Scottish local/vernacular plant names.
"A spinkie den of rag-a-tag, mappie's lugs and flapper bags
Runchie, ramps, wrack and rammock..."
SPUDS-YOU'D-LIKE
Just a few of the 427 varieties of British-registered potatoes.
"...Schoolmaster, Chancellor, Home Guard, Avalanche
Dunbar Archer, Ulster Lancer, Arran Banner and Maris Piper".
THE TEASEL MAN IS COMING - see Documents page.
See also the Natural History Survey carried out at Surrey Docks Farm.