Slime mould season is upon us 😃

Finally moved! It’s been a hectic week but got the chance to make a start on the garden today. There’s a lot to clear first to uncover the bones but lots of potential

I thought I knew the story of the "lost world" off the east coast of Britain, inhabited by Mesolithic people until rising sea waters engulfed it around 8,000 years ago... But I didn't know about the *tsunami*. Holy hell. 1/

Some hopeful weekend reading. “This is nature’s emergency recovery mechanism. We’ve buggered almost everything up but this will still bring them back.”

Could I have some help with this one please @mothiduk.bsky.social The Cosmopolitan Leucania loreyi? - it’s in the fridge if further photos required #TeamMoth North Herefordshire

... here's a map of 618 #SlowWays routes that need just one more positive review to get their trusted verified status 🐌✅ Are any close to you? Could you help and check one? We'd love your help to turn them all purple! Take a look here beta.slowways.org/user/waylist... 🧵2/2

‘Hares are the only game species in England and Wales that can be shot all year round. It has been reported that the UK brown hare population could have fallen by more than 80% in the past 100 years.’ petition.parliament.uk/petitions/72...

One of the Convolvulus Hawk Moths is out tonight in the torrential rain feeding away, hardier than I thought they would be!. Here is another video from a drier night showing the hot areas of the moth more accurately, you can see the cold antennae easily! #teammoth

The place we’re staying is above a small village in the southern Dolomites called Mezzano. It’s charming and incredibly tidy and has stunning views of the surrounding mountains. It also has dozens and dozens of woodpiles.

📣 New research, including @savebutterflies.bsky.social #citizenscience data, shows winners & losers across >1200 insect species in Britain since 1990. Urbanisation identified as major driver of decline for moths, ladybirds & hoverflies www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🌍 🦋🐞🦗🪲🐝

A Pale Eggar helped ease the disappointment of not getting a visit from Big Blue last night - NFG and not a moth I was expecting 😊 North Herefordshire #TeamMoth

Excellent. I’m in there and ready ⛈️🌪️🌬️

Crab apples and haws decorating the hedgerow on our walk today. Herrock Hill, North Herefordshire #WildFlowerHour #Fruits

The Devils-bit Scabious in the garden has been alive with insects between the showers, including this beautiful Common Blue 💙 North Herefordshire

Interesting behaviour from this pair of Speckled Wood - a female receiving unwelcome attention from a male I presume! @savebutterflies.bsky.social @martinswarren.bsky.social

Excited to be part of #Fungitown in #HayonWye this Oct 3rd - 5th Fungi Town 2025 | Explore Fungi Events Now www.fungitown.org.uk Ill be selling prints & original illustrations of plants and animals; & hope to draw fungus too. Come along! #fungusday #fungus #sciart #botanicalillustration

Yellow-barred Brindle, Tawny-barred Angle and Maiden’s Blush NFG last night and a beautiful trio of Angle Shades NFY (only two wanted a photo!). Large Yellow Underwings picking up the baton from Sebaceous HC for most numerous. North Herefordshire #TeamMoth

Hello @bsky.app. we are Norfolk Ponds Project - a science-led partnership NGO focused on pond restoration & #ghostpond ressurection. We aim to educate, lobby & inspire others on ponds. We used to Tweet & had 5000+ followers. ***Please follow & help us achieve the same here***!!!

Vestal was the highlight of this weekends moth trap effort (44 species), and nice to catch up with other NFY Chinese Character and Centre-barred Sallow. Autumns knocking on the door with Flounced Rustic, Rosy Rustic and Six-Striped Rustic. North Herefordshire #TeamMoth @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

"I found 282 earwigs in a single night in 1996. In 2024, only 31 adults were trapped in that entire year." #insects theconversation.com/my-daily-sur...

Two new species for me yesterday on the Gann Estuary, Pembrokeshire - Duke of Argyll's Teaplant, Lycium barbarum or Goji berry - a garden escapee? 11-spot Ladybird, coastal species. #WildflowerHour #Ladybirds

Beautiful Nursehound eggcase found today at St Brides in Pembrokeshire today #sharks

Good morning! From the pair of Goldfinch feasting on knapweed seeds outside my window 🤗

Beautiful Small Copper on my #BigButterflyCount yesterday enjoying the oregano, along with 9 Gatekeepers, a Holly Blue and numerous Whites. North Herefordshire.

"It is our duty to make sure we adapt to the reality of climate breakdown so that, when disasters do hit, we are ready for them." Check out this article, co-authored with Caroline Lucas, on why we all need to be #SAFER. www.bylinesupplement.com/p/adapting-s...

Eeek this could be a good record - Prochoreutis myllerana or P.sehestediana #TeamMoth ? Just potted it feeding on golden rod North Herefordshire @mothiduk.bsky.social

Nice to catch up with three Old Lady’s under the potting bench 😍 Found by my youngest, North Herefordshire. #TeamMoth

The PNG Courier on the crime against humanity currently being permitted to take place in Gaza. Substack - mrhenrymorris.substack.com/p/the-png-co...

Surprised to see Buff-tip caterpillars munching on my young sweet chestnut trees - the large leathery leaves never look that appetising! Great moth and nice looking cats. North Herefordshire #TeamMoth

✨Tonight at 7pm✨ Catch me on BBC One as our documentary, ‘Guardian of the Night’ goes out live to the nation! What is darkness? What is light pollution? Why does it matter and why should you care? Find out at 7. If nothing else, the landscape shots are out of this world 🌌💙

Why do I leave a patch of nettles growing in the polytunnel? Caterpillars! Really hoping these are Small Tortoiseshell, after a terrible year for them last year 🤞#Butterflies

Today’s polytunnel moth was a Scorched Carpet, Ligdia adustata - caterpillars feed on spindle. I really must start a polytunnel moth list! North Herefordshire #TeamMoth

No doubting the star capture from last night 🤯 Bedstraw Hawk-moth!!! Other migrants included an Olive-tree Pearl, Dark Sword-grass and 23 Silver Y rammed into my ori lure! Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs (VC39) #TeamMoth @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

Are butterflies doing better this year? Yes! ✅ Is that a good thing for nature? Yes! ✅ Do I put a downer on some positive butterfly news? Yes! ✅ (sorry) theconversation.com/why-the-uks-... #butterflies #nature #bugsky 🌍

Oh after the badger excitement of this morning I didn’t think today could get more ecologically exciting I. Was. Wrong I have a Lampyris noctiluca in my garden. A glow worm. A GLOW WORM

56 species last night in the garden - NFG Lychnis, always lovely to see a Gold Spot NFY, Bordered Beauty and a second Garden Tiger. Ignored the hoards of Footman and various Eudonia for my sanity! North Herefordshire #TeamMoth

For recently arrived mothers...welcome! Here's my slightly proboscis-in-palp mothing glossary. Recently updated with a couple of NFG terms www.sciencebase.com/science-blog...

Eryngium ‘Miss Wilmotts Ghost’ in the garden heaving with wasps and other pollinators 🤩 North Herefordshire

Phasia hemiptera (male?) on hogweed today on a rather hot lunchtime walk - an impressive looking fly and an endoparasite of shield bugs. North Herefordshire.

And now for today’s climate forecast …

Spotted this Ferruginous Bee-grabber, Sicus ferrugineus, today - I’m not sure if I nearly caught it in the act of injecting an egg into a bumblebee 😳 - #diptera

All about the macros last night - beautiful Oak Eggar and Garden Tiger NFG and two Large Emeralds NFY #TeamMoth North Herefordshire

Excited to find a moth to the Welsh Clearwing lure just now - alas ‘just’ a Current Clearwing but still a new one for me 🤗 A little worn but I believe the yellow collar is an identifying feature? #TeamMoth

Got my Lunar Hornet fix for the year - a stunning moth and an incredible mimic. Lure back in the freezer for next year - North Herefordshire #TeamMoth

Three of four Lappets to light in the North Hampshire garden last night. #TeamMoth

Just released the Small Marbled to continue its travels - only the 7th recorded in Herefordshire according to our CMR so pretty chuffed with that 😁 Others new to garden - Elder Pearl, a smart looking Clay and Pinion- streaked snout - North Herefordshire #TeamMoth

@migrantmothuk.bsky.social Small Marbled in Herefordshire overnight 🎉 #TeamMoth

My Country Diary - on abundance, or the illusion of it: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A Tale of Two Commas. Right now, the midsummer brood of Comma butterflies is emerging across Britain. Look closely and you may notice that it has two different colour forms: the typical, darker morph (right) and a much brighter, golden morph (left) known as f. hutchinsoni

Your annual reminder of how to tell Field Scabious, Knautia arvensis, and Small Scabious, Scabiosa columbaria, apart with a quick glance. Have a look under the flower heads. Field Scabious has a double row of leaf-like bracts, and Small Scabious has a single row of narrow, bristle-tipped bracts.