I thought this was Ruddy Darter due to the black legs, but the thorax isn't particularly red, so perhaps it is Common? #Dragonflies #Insects

#Botany #PlantID help requested. What is this ornamental plant please?

First Ivy bee of the autumn! #NorthantsWildlife #Bees #Insects

Female Southern Oak Bush-cricket. #Insects #NorthantsWildlife

Positive news for #koalas! A single dose vaccine has been approved to tackle chlamydia in the iconic species.

Spotted this solitary bee in the garden, and have two thoughts on it. 1. It looks a lot like the Chocolate Mining Bee (A. scotica) and in the normal area of the garden that I get them. But that's a spring species, so unless there's been some unusual development, that's v unlikely. #Bees #Insects

Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust (one of my WT employers) is recruiting for an Assistant Reserve Officer at Rutland Water. An amazing opportunity to work at one of the UK's most well-known and loved nature reserves.

I'm assuming this is an early stage of one of the spangle #galls? #invertebrates

Small (3-4cm) mushroom on a roadside verge. There is a stem underneath. Any thoughts on ID welcome

Leopard Slug? A small one perhaps? #Invertebrates #Slugs #UKWildlife

Some roosting Common Blue #butterflies in a farm field margin, and a bonus Small Copper. #invertebrates #insects #Bedfordshire

Lovely game of Botany today, but we did feel it went on for too long, with 4 players. Has anyone added house rules to shorten the game length? Most obvious to us was reducing the Reputation level at which point game end is initiated, but interested in other ideas too. #TabletopGames #BoardGames

Blackberry picking is my happy place

Garden birds not looking well? It could be trichomonosis. By reporting sick or dead birds, you can directly help our scientists understand this disease. Report here: www.gardenwildlifehealth.org Please don’t clean or remove feeders until after we visit - this step is crucial.❗

Looking at some butterfly pics and trying to decide if this Clouded Yellow is anything other than the 'main' species, C. croceus. Pont d'Ael, Aosta Valley, Italy. #Butterflies #Invertebrates

A game of The Fate Of The Fellowship this afternoon. At one point, it was looking VERY rough for Frodo and Sam, but they managed to make it to Mount Doom and successfully destroy the One Ring. #LordOfTheRings #BoardGames #TabletopGames

A couple of Common Blue butterflies, at @wildlifebcn.org's Summer Leys Nature Reserve. #NorthantsWildlife #Invertebrates #Butterflies

The North York Moors fire will be devastating to wildlife - thank you to everyone tirelessly tackling the blaze, from the fire service and volunteers to local land managers. Our countryside is incredibly dry, please: 🔥Do not light a BBQ or stoves anywhere 🔥Take all your litter home 🔥No smoking

I’m so excited that my first paper is out! 💪🏼💥 #ornithology

What a delight to see one of the Wasp Spiders at @wildlifebcn.org's Summer Leys reserve today. One of my favourite #invertebrates, and definitely one of my favourite #spiders! #NorthantsWildlife

UPDATE Looks like this is Andricus grossulariae, rather than A. lucidus. A lifer for me, and still suited to being called a Hedgehog Gall imo (tho can't find actual English common name for it).

A groovy-looking gall on an oak tree, found during today's @wildlifebcn.org corporate lunchtime walk. I believe it is the Hedgehog Oak Gall, Andricus lucidus. Not yet found another record of it in Cambs...

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***!!!

The fate of Middle Earth is in our hands #LordOfTheRings #TabletopGames #BoardGames

A rather belated post to share my latest job announcement! I have recently joined @wildlifebcn.org as their Events and Promotions Officer. I shall be co-ordinating (and sometimes delivering) the external talks, recruiting members at events, ...

New species alert! 🚨 🕷️ 🧪 Four new tarantulas (and one existing species moved into this new genus) with record-breaking male genitalia - possibly used to help them survive the reproduction process with cannibalistic females. Study by @alirezazamani.bsky.social et al #Spiders #Tarantulas #SciComm

First day since Wed eve where I've felt well enough to not be in bed all day, and to step out into the garden for a bit. Picked some blackberries from the wild corner, admired the growing runner beans (anyone got some good recipes?), and watched some white butterflies.

@alirezazamani.bsky.social Hello, could you follow back/message? I'd love to chat about your new tarantulas

Gola-Tiwai Complex amongst new World Heritage sites in recent announcement, home to pangolins, forest elephants and pygmy hippos - and providing support for migratory swifts.

Do you do moth trapping in the UK? We'd love your help! 💡 At @ukceh.bsky.social we're training & testing AI to detect multiple moths in a single image. Send us top-down photos of multiple moths on egg trays to support this work. More info & form: forms.gle/e3HzBPEd7RVV... #mothsmatter #TeamMoth

Busy week or so with starting a new job, and adding some final edits to the book, but I couldn't resist writing about this newly described species of giant stick insect! #NewSpecies #Inverts #Science #AustralianWildlife

The Leaf-toed gecko has reappeared on Rábida Island (Galápagos Islands). Previously, it had only been known on the island from 5,000-year old fossils. “The return of this gecko highlights nature’s incredible power to heal itself when given the chance” www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...

If you're enjoying the Perfect Specimen we'd love to collect any questions you have for Josh and Natalie (or Producers Ben and Duncan), about their chosen specimens, the Museum, natural history, making the podcast etc. for a special Q & A episode. No Qs means more waffle. You have been warned!

This rose though 💖 Particularly in love with it as every year it drops its leaves (I think due to black spot fungus or similar), but then regrows them and still manages to produce these vivid pink blooms.

BIG NEWS: For the first time in six years, Britain's rarest breeding bird has successfully nested in the UK! A pair of Montagu's Harriers have raised four healthy chicks, all of which have taken their first flights.

It's a bumper-wasp year: here are my top tips on how to dine alongside wasps, without getting stung. GET INVOLVED! Tell us what wasps want at YOUR picnic: www.sumnerlab.co.uk/wasp-picnic-... theconversation.com/what-to-do-w... @uclcber.bsky.social @uclnews.bsky.social @uk.theconversation.com

Come hang out with me in Leicester! Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust are recruiting for an Office Assistant:

Comparison with The Dectectorists? That’s high praise indeed from @yolobirder.bsky.social. One of my favourite scenes as well. ☺️ #thecuckooslea #naturewriting

Completely thrilled to have a Small Copper in my front garden this week! It was enjoying the (unpopular-with-my-neighbours) Ragwort, and is a new species for my garden!

The surreal red raspberry slime mold, Fullersburg Woods this morning (with thanks to my dear spouse and natural-history partner Rachel Davis, who spotted it from a distance).

New Feed! Dedicated to patch birders from around the UK who flog their own corner of the UK daily, often with little to show for it! And where #PatchGold moments are so, so special. Posts tagged #PatchBirding, #PatchGold and #PWC2025 collated. DM me to add tag or user. bsky.app/profile/did:...

Busy as a bumblebee! My ragwort and field scabious are absolutely buzzing with pollinators

I just calculated that Woodwalton Marsh in Cambs has 30 species of resident butterflies (out of 38 regular species in the county). Pretty staggering for only 1 hectare of grassland, and hedgerow. @wildlifebcn.org www.wildlifebcn.org/nature-reser...

A very obliging Essex Skipper butterfly, sitting neatly on the heather so I could get a good angle for identifying it. Namely, being able to see the tips of the antennae - completely black. #Butterflies #Insects #Wildlife

Sharing the news of the book today across the different socials has been quite slow, as I'm out in the wilds (with very limited signal) looking at wildlife - like this Small Heath butterfly

I'm so excited to announce that I am the co-author for "Where to Watch Wildlife in Britain by Low-carbon Transport". #Books #LowCarbon #Wildlife #Travel

The team has been BUSY! Catch up on what Curlew Action has been up to, and our upcoming plans:

I'll be at Global Birdfair next week. Mostly working on the @curlewaction.bsky.social stall (Robin marquee) and assisting with board games with WildSpace (Discovery Zone, Friday 4-7pm), plus some general wandering around.

Mary Colwell reports on Curlew Action's third and final European trip for 2025, where she and Flo headed to France. "The plight of Curlews in Europe was laid out before us on our visit to three regions in France in early June 2025.

We bid a fond farewell to #InsectWeek for another year, but it's never too late to appreciate insects and all they do for the world around us 🦋 See some #InsectPhotography at World Museum Liverpool for the RES #PhotoExhibition until 20 July 2025 🔽