And if you want more detail on why I left iNat, I wrote about that too: kueda.net/blog/2026/01...

Quick lunchtime mooch before the rain arrives, produced a single Anisosticta 19-punctata (Water Ladybird) from a Bulrush sheaf (replaced carefully afterwards!), new for my #LadybirdYearList. #VC40Ladybirds

Portrait of the two sexes of the very rare & elusive Giant or Tawny Earwig which once occurred regularly in the Bournemouth area until its coastal habitat was lost to development in the first half of the 20th C. From William Lucas, Monograph of the British Orthoptera, Ray Society, 1920.

William Lucas relates how the Giant or Tawny Earwig (see last post) was lost from the Bournemouth area as 'the wild character of the sandy cliffs gives place to stately roads and promenades'. Elsewhere there have only been unconfirmed sightings since 1940 .

#LadybirdYearList Species #6: a couple of Arboreal Ladybirds (Rhyzobius chrysomeloides) tapped out of a Euonymus shrub in my Waltham Abbey garden today. #EssexWildlife #UKLadybirds

A couple more Red-rumped Ladybirds (Scymnus haemorrhoidalis) at lunchtime today, one with 16-spot and 22-spot, plus new for my #LadybirdYearList, Nephus redtenbacheri (Red-patched Ladybird). #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

#LadybirdYearList Species #5: a single Bristly Ladybird (Rhyzobius lophanthae) tapped out of an ornamental juniper in an Upshire garden today. #EssexWildlife #UKLadybirds

Thrilled to have a new garden tick this morning, with Scymnus interruptus (Red-flanked Ladybird), then a couple more for my #LadybirdYearList with Propylea 14-punctata (14-spot Ladybird) and Scymnus haemorrhoidalis (Red-rumped Ladybird) at lunchtime. #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

Fun, fascinating behaviour by the Ravens this morning. Not great photos but I've never seen this behaviour before so I wanted to share! Hope you're not bored of ravens; I'm a little obsessed! Here Chips is having a snow bath and one of them is hanging upside down from a tree! #ukbirding

A 7-Spot and a Harlequin Ladybird huddled together in freezing temperatures in SE Essex today.

#LadybirdYearList Species #4: a single Cream-spot Ladybird (Calvia quatuordecimguttata) tapped out of gorse at Fishers Green today. Always pleased to catch up with this species, not rare but rarely common and my sightings are always rather random. #EssexWildlife #UKLadybirds

And new for my #LadybirdYearList are Subcoccinella 24-punctata (24-spot Ladybird), Adalia bipunctata (2-spot Ladybird), Rhyzobius chrysomeloides (Arboreal Ladybird), and just a few Coccidula rufa (Red Marsh Ladybird) 😂 #MicroLadybird

Another good albeit chilly mooch today, finding another Stethorus pusillus (Dot Ladybird) with Bristly Ladybird, huddles of 7-spot & 16-spot Ladybirds with a small Harley, and more Scymnus interruptus (Red-flanked Ladybird) including a red form #MicroLadybird

#LadybirdYearList Species #3: a single Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) tapped out of a Euonymus shrub in my Waltham Abbey garden today. #EssexWildlife #UKLadybirds

No luck with Brown Hairstreak eggs on the Blackthorn, but met a charming couple hanging out in the cold 😍

#LadybirdYearList Species #2: a single 22-spot Ladybird (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata) tapped out of a Euonymus shrub in an Upshire garden today. #EssexWildlife #UKLadybirds

Here we go. Another year, another #LadybirdYearList. First stop, Saint Mary’s churchyard in Morpeth, my “home patch”. Quite low totals, but 5 species: 1. 7-spot Ladybird (x6) 2. Harlequin Ladybird (x9) 3. Cream-spot Ladybird (x2) 4. Orange Ladybird (x62) 5. 10-spot Ladybird (x1) #NELadybirdSpot

And finally, for my #LadybirdYearList are Rhyzobius lophanthae (Bristly Ladybird), Nephus quadrimaculatus (Ivy Ladybird), Stethorus pusillus (Dot Ladybird) and Scymnus interruptus (Red-flanked Ladybird) 4 of 4 #MicroLadybird

Next for my #LadybirdYearList are Adalia decempunctata (10-spot Ladybird), Harmonia quadripunctata (Cream-streaked Ladybird), Rhyzobius litura (Meadow Ladybird) and Chilocorus renipustulatus (Kidney-spot Ladybird) #MicroLadybird 3 of 4

Continuing with my #LadybirdYearList from today are Calvia 14-guttata (Cream-spot Ladybird), Aphidecta obliterata (Larch Ladybird), Exochomus quadripustulatus (Pine Ladybird), Hippodamia variegata (Adonis Ladybird) 2 of 4

A good chilly mooch today just over the border in Staffs, to kick off my #LadybirdYearList with Harmonia axyridis (Harlequin Ladybird), Coccinella septempunctata (7-spot Ladybird), Psyllobora 22-punctata (22-spot Ladybird) and Tytthaspis 16-punctata (16-spot Ladybird) 1 of 4

Happy New Year! My 1st records for #CemeteryWildlifeWatch recording activity for 2026, all from my local Morningside Cemetery, #Edinburgh: Acericerus heydenii, cluster of Red-legged Shieldbug nymph, Orange & Harlequin Ladybirds & Acompocoris alpinus. #iRecord #ladybirds

Also from under bark today was this Dermestidae larva, which I think could be Megatoma undata 🤔 Happy to be corrected! 😁 #Coleoptera #Dermestidae

Nice to see an Ant Beetle (Thanasimus formicarius) from under bark today (and put back carefully) #Coleoptera #Cleridae

#LadybirdYearList Species #1: plenty of 7-spot Ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata) in an Upshire, Essex garden today, including several hibernating clusters on fence posts. #UKLadybirds #EssexWildlife

Who needs fireworks, eh! Much better. I got this footage standing on top of the bench in the back garden in Filton a short while ago. I nearly lent back too far! @bristolbirding.bsky.social

Other 2025 highlights: Cliff Tiger Beetle (Eype, May); Clytra quadripunctata ovipositing (Wyre, June); Compost Chernes female with eggs (Shrops, October) and 1st instar Land Caddis larva (Shrops, November).

Finishing the year with a new ladybird for Red Moss of Netherley: 𝘊𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘧𝘢 - Red Marsh Ladybird. Seems to be widespread but few Aberdeenshire records. This one was tucked away between the clasp and body of an Audiomoth case. @ukladybirds.bsky.social

2025 Flora highlights: Early Spider Orchid (Ophrys sphegodes), Lady Orchid (Orchis purpurea), Monkey Orchid (Orchis simia) and Late Spider Orchid (Ophrys fuciflora) all seen in Kent this year; some beautiful species in some very special habitats. #UKOrchids #KentFlora

Some of my 2025 ladybird highlights, mostly seen with @vc40ladybirds.bsky.social : 13-spot LB, 1 of 2 seen on the Somerset Levels. Then 3 micro spp: Willow LB, Horseshoe LB which I was chuffed to find in my garden & Schmidt's LB, found by @vc40ladybirds.bsky.social who kept it so I could 'tog it.

My Orthopteroid highlights for 2025 included four new species: Scaly Cricket at Marloes, Pembrokeshire; Tree Cricket at Dungeness; Sickle-bearing Bush-cricket and Short-winged Earwig, both at Wye NNR, Kent. The Scalies must rank as the best of them - what a thrill to see this rare creature.

A huge thank you to all our customers and supporters during 2025. We achieved so much together. Wishing you all a very happy new year and more outdoor learning fun in 2026!

the people NEED roach pix 😤 Pseudomops septentrionalis "Pale-bordered Field Cockroach", Oklahoma Balta notulata "Small-spotted Cockroach", Oahu Panchlorinae, Tambopata, Peru Paratropes, Tambopata, Peru

2025 wildlife highlights: two new species of ladybird seen, White-spot Ladybird in the New Forest and 13-spot Ladybird in Sussex completing the known resident species; a smart New Forest Shieldbug seen in the New Forest, and a trip to Devon coincided with the Lesser Crested Tern on the Exe Estuary.

2025 summary of my local Striped Shieldbug population: adults seen 25 April-10 Nov, max of 86; nymphs seen 21 July-27 Oct, max 37. Numbers much reduced at Fishers Green, but several good populations now in Waltham Abbey, especially Abbey Gardens and Ninefields. #EssexWildlife #UKBugs

A nice Xmas Eve mooch, specifically for Micros in a well recorded Macro area in mid Shropshire, finding Rhyzobius chrysomeloides (Arboreal LB), Rhyzobius lophanthae (Bristly LB) with 10-spot LB, and plenty of Scymnus interruptus (Red-flanked LB) amongst others! #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

Today’s mooch in poorly recorded monads in north Shropshire produced Nephus quadrimaculatus (Ivy LB), Coccidula rufa (Red Marsh LB), Rhyzobius lophanthae (Bristly LB) and Scymnus haemorrhoidalis (Red-rumped LB) amongst others! #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

Tapped four Arboreal Ladybirds (Rhyzobius chrysomeloides) out of a Euonymus shrub in my Waltham Abbey garden this morning. #EssexWildlife #UKLadybirds

Always love to find the gorgeous Zicrona caerulea (Blue Shieldbug) #Heteroptera #Shieldbug #Asopinae

A great diversity of invertebrates from the garden today, using a beating tray on ivy and a mixed hedge: bugs, beetles, a fly pretending to be a beetle, moths, springtails, spiders, woodlice and more - so much life! #ento

Happy Winter Solstice!! Onwards and upwards from here on in!!!! 💚 #WinterSolstice

Oh, just a couple cute little ladybugs with blue eyes 🥰 #Coccinellidae: #Hyperaspsis bigeminata North Carolina, USA

Trip to Baggeridge CP yesterday in search of Firecrest was unsuccessful so I amused myself with a party of Ring-necked Parakeets instead. Local birders distinctly unimpressed! But still a novelty to me as haven't reached my patch yet.

Wildlife Group at Dingle Farm. Usual hospitality there. Birch Shieldbug landed on my bag #fieldcraft ; Orthotrichum diaphanum on Elder; vac samplers got Ypsolopha ustella; flushed a Woodcock (last ditch yearly!); Keith found Cream-spot Ladybird; Jim got new psyllid for VC40 etc #ukwildlife #teammoth

A walk in the woods at Felbrigg with @jeremybartlett.bsky.social brought a longed for insect - Boreus hyemalis aka Snow Flea. Managed to spot a male then found a female and another male in a second patch of moss. Happy days!

Another good mooch this afternoon in the Shrewsbury area, finding Rhyzobius chrysomeloides (Arboreal LB), Rhyzobius lophanthae (Bristly LB), a nicely marked Adalia decempunctata (10-spot LB) and Hippodamia variegata (Adonis LB), amongst others #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

A few finds from sieving leaf litter today. A 10 Spot Ladybird, a Brassica Shieldbug and some 16 Spot Ladybirds. I also found some groundbugs that are waiting for identification.

Melverley Floods with @janettem34.bsky.social this morning. At least 57 Whooper Swans (44 Cae Howell, 13+ Royal Oak), a high count for Shrops and a fine sight & sound, 3 Mutes, 320+ Pintail, 205+ Wigeon, 345 Greylag, 280 Canadas, Canlag, 6 Egyptian Goose, L Egret etc #shropshirebirding 🪶 #ukwildlife

… part 2: female Winter Moth, Peripsocus milleri, Acericerus heydenii & 7-spot Ladybird. #CemeteryWildlifeWatch recording activity on #iRecord.

Some of today’s records of #insects from Morningside Cemetery, #Edinburgh, part 1: Orange & Harlequin Ladybirds, Phloiophilus edwardsii … #CemeteryWildlifeWatch recording activity on #iRecord.