This week’s #TheWinter10 - Common Ragwort, Yarrow, Dandelion, Groundsel, Burnet Saxifrage, a Fleabane, Ivy-leaved Toadflax, a white Sweet Violet, Red Deadnettle & Hogweed #WildflowerHour

Jelly Ear fungi growing on Elder #WildWebsWednesday

Following the cold snap, this week’s #TheWinter10 was hard to come by, but some sheltered spots reaped rewards: Mexican Fleabane, Creeping Buttercup, Herb Robert, Groundsel, Red Deadnettle, White Deadnettle, Petty Spurge, Burnet Saxifrage, Dandelion & Yarrow #WildflowerHour

Some Snowy Waxcaps growing in grassland at a local churchyard #WildWebsWednesday #Fungi

Green Shieldbug, in its winter colour, on Ivy #WildWebsWednesday

This week’s #TheWinter10 - White Campion, Bristly Oxtongue, Herb Robert, Hedge Mustard, Nipplewort, Common Field Speedwell, Smooth Sowthistle, Comfrey, a Fleabane & Red Deadnettle. #WildflowerHour

A Tachinid fly (possibly Siphona sp) enjoying Yarrow. #WildWebsWednesday

Leafmine on Stinging Nettle, possibly from fly Agromyza anthracina #WildWebsWednesday

For anyone interested in Nature in the UK, this is really, really depressing reading. Despite all our efforts over the past decades (site protection, farming schemes), wild plants, an essential element of the natural world, are disappearing before our eyes. britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bi...

A quarter of Britain’s native plants are now at risk of extinction The first update in two decades to a “red list” of plants found a substantial increase in the number of threatened species www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

It seems to have been a good year for 7-spot Ladybirds. Seen so many of them and particularly on Ivy. #WildWebsWednesday

Crab Spider lurking behind an Ivy leaf #WildWebsWednesday

This week’s #TheWinter10 - Dandelion, Wild Carrot, Hawkweed Oxtongue, Groundsel, White Clover, Red Clover, Scentless Mayweed, Chicory, Ivy & Comfrey #WildflowerHour

Syrphus sp hoverfly enjoying a Dandelion. #WildWebsWednesday

Assumed Green Shieldbug nymph hunkering down, and well camouflaged, in between Ivy berries. #WildWebsWednesday

David Attenborough backs bid to buy £30m estate for wildlife conservation https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1d0x39x270o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

Charities’ plans for historic Rothbury Estate gain support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to kickstart vital work on the ground - @NorthWildlife.bsky.social c-js.co.uk/4hmINNL

These wildflowers were seen growing in a sheltered alleyway this week: Smooth Sowthistle, Green Alkanet, Petty Spurge, Black Horehound, Black Nightshade & White Deadnettle. #WildflowerHour

Hairy Shieldbug seen on Nettles #WildWebsWedesday

Hoverfly enjoying the Ivy flowers #WildWebsWednesday

Dandelion, Yarrow, Ladies Bedstraw, Herb Robert, Common Toadflax & Common Knapweed seen in a local churchyard this week. #WildflowerHour

The Government has tabled 67 last-minute amendments to the Planning & Infrastructure Bill.‼️ Rushed through with little scrutiny, it’s a shambolic way to reform the planning system. It creates confusion, sidelines science and leaves nature dangerously exposed. (1/3)

Intensifying grassland management leads to massive loss of arthropod species. However, total arthropod numbers remain more or less stable. Many losers, few winners. doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...

The new European Butterfly Red List is published today, with worrying findings. Over 1/4 (28%) of Europe’s 442 species are threatened with extinction or are close to being so. The situation is far worse for our 148 endemic species, 40% are now threatened or nearly so www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?...

Hard-hitting quote from RSPB nails it! markavery.info/2025/10/14/r... Planning Bill amendments #poorprocess #legislativechaos #noclarity #cynical #planningshambles

The latest Nick MacKinnon guest blog on failures of competence in plans for massive windfarm on Walshaw Moor markavery.info/2025/10/15/g... Scoping Report, rightly, gets rough ride from Planning Inspectorate. Would you invest in this lack of competence?

Ivy Bee and 7-spot Ladybird on the same Ivy flower head. #WildWebsWednesday

Galls of mite Eriophyes viburni on Wayfairing Tree #WildWebsWednesday

A selection of wildflowers seen this week: Wild Carrot, Knapweed, Bramble, Black Horehound, White Campion, Meadow Buttercup, Wild Basil, Bristly Oxtongue, Common Mallow & Field Scabious #WildflowerHour

I wouldn’t be happy if I lived in Cambridge. I wonder how @tonyjuniper.bsky.social feels about this.

I know I've said it before but I definitely need a longer fence 😲 It's getting to peak garden #Chough numbers now and it's only early October. I'm guessing the daily count might top 70 this Winter. Photos taken with my phone about 2 foot from the fence line. #Anglesey #WildWebsWednesday

24-spot ladybird on a grass leaf, which is typical for them. #WildWebsWednesday

Toadflax Brocade moth caterpillar seen this week on a Purple Toadflax seed-head. #WildWebsWednesday

Seen flowering at a local nature reserve this week: Comfrey, Ragwort, False Oat-grass, Perennial Sowthistle & Hemp Agrimony #WildflowerHour

7-spot Ladybird on a Perennial Sowthistle flower. #WildWebsWednesday

Gall on Elm leaves from mite Aceria campestricola #WildWebsWednesday

Sycamore Tar Spot (Rhytisma acerinum) seen today. #WildWebsWednesday

Seen at the edge of a ploughed arable field: Scentless Mayweed, Smooth Sowthistle, Dove’s-foot Cranesbill, Hawkweed Oxtongue & *think* OSR (lots of it!). #WildflowerHour

Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) are causing widespread harm to wildlife, especially birds of prey. Here's your opportunity to put pressure on the HSE to stop approving them for use - there are safer alternatives! Deadline Tues 30 Sept! wildjustice.org.uk/general/plea...

Wildflowers on our aptly named Greenway (Read about it here: northwestnatureandhistory.co.uk/2024/06/20/pad…#Wildflowerhouru#naturer#Padihama#Lancashirere @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @sustrans.bsky.social

All seen on Ivy today: 7-spot Ladybird, Ivy Bee, Green Shieldbug, Syrphus sp hoverfly, Wasp & Honey Bee. #WildWebsWednesday

Despite the local churchyard just having its Autumn grass cut & ‘tidy up’, I found these flowers in bloom there this week: Ivy, Autumn Hawkbit, Common Knapweed, Hedgerow Cranesbill, Field Forget-me-not, Herb Robert, Burnet-saxifrage, Yarrow, Common Toadflax & Cyclamen #WildflowerHour

You've missed it for this month - but you could subscribe for 21 October issue.

Last Saturday @jeremybartlett.bsky.social and I cycled to Castle Acre for a weeks holiday. We visited 26 churchyards and I found pseudoscorpions at 14 of them. 31 individuals of 3 species plus dead specimens of a 4th inside one church. A 5th species was found in woodland. Photos to follow.

My monthly newsblast about wildlife and conservation issues will arrive in your inbox early on Sunday morning - if you are subscribed. Subscribe here markavery.info/sign-monthly... - it's free and you can unsubscribe whenever you like (but you probably won't as most people stay for a long time).

Disappointingly misleading headline to this BBC "verify" piece, given how the BBC polishes its verification credentials. In fact planning approvals ie the proportion of applications for development receiving Local Planning Authority consent, has increased from 71% to 75% in the year to June 2025.

We have been described as "THE BEST NGO THAT NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT" Please help by following us & reposting!!!

Another #FavouritePlant is this cheery Bee Orchid which grows in my allotment plot & I cloche it to save it from being munched by deer. 🐝😍 #WildflowerHour

Very difficult to choose a #FavouritePlant when I have so many! 😄 A highlight this year was finding my first ever Ploughman’s Spikenard. 💛 #WildflowerHour

For the last weekly challenge, we want to know what was your favourite plant that you’ve spotted from across Britain and Ireland this year? Share your pics for #wildflowerhour this Sunday 8-9pm using the hashtag #favouriteplant and we’ll celebrate it with you! 🥳🌿🌸