JAMIE Warren is a popular figure on social media on Stroud.

We spoke to Jamie to find out a bit more about this nature loving chap.

Tell us about yourself:

I live in Stonehouse, went to Maidenhill school and work for Ubico/Stroud District Council is a recycling/refuse operative

What first got you interested in nature?

I was always interested in nature as a young lad ,catching slow worms, grass snakes and newts as you do when a young boy.

What is the most unusual thing you have spotted?

I have found so many rare mosses and plants on my travels. Probably a bryoparasitic fungi that was new to the uk.

What is Stroud like for nature?

The Stroud district is fantastic for wildlife, our beech woods are huge and ancient and full of wildlife if you know what and where to look. Also our Calcerous grassland is home to lots of beautiful Orchid species and many other stunning botanical treasures. Our canals are also fantastic, teaming with fish and birdlike and the Otters are great to see playing along the Stroudwater canal.

Why are you so active on social media?

I share my pics on twitter for others to enjoy and learn from and also I have people that follow my account that can’t get out much, due to age or other things and they like the pics.

What is your favourtie plant?

My favourite plant would be a group of plants, the Hawkweeds or Hieracium is their scientific name. There are over 400 species of hieracium, a very hard group to identify, but so rewarding and seriously exciting to go searching for on rocky rivers , mountains, old mine sites, waste ground, gorges and ravines you name it!

What is your favourite animal?

That would be short eared owls or nightjars, two birds that are magical to watch and in nightjars listen too as that churr they make is a summer pleasure to behold year upon year.

Where is your favourite place - apart from Stroud?

My favourite place would be Cwm idwal in North Wales a fantastic mountain with a stunning lake, searching its huge scree beds and massive boulder fields for bryophtes in the winter is harsh but so exciting, but then again the Atlantic oak woods of Wales also are magical places, the Oceanic climate giving perfect habitat to so many rare mosses and liverworts (bryophtes). Its a place to get lost in beauty, twisted ancient oaks moss carpets and lichen covered trunks - pure class!