Interesting how the digital revolution changes the way we communicate. (This was a while back). Me: You working later? Daughter: Yep. Me: Oh, thought you were off. Daughter: Colleague is ill. Boss told me on a piece of paper. Me: 🤔 You mean he GAVE YOU A NOTE rather than sending a text!!

Worth a read 🧵 Nice to hear some sense regarding Nature and planning laws rather than the usual bollocks from a bunch of deeply corrupt greedy politicians in bed with the house building industry.

october entered, drenched in amber and transition. how is there so much beauty in death? i asked the trees. may you know for yourself the brilliance of your own unburdening, they whispered. may you rest in the quiet blessing of your own lightness. -Emory Hall Be well folks💛 #Photography #Nature

My latest oil painting of the Bearded reedlings. Love these birds. #wildlifeart #birdart #birds #oilpainting

Swapped for the Mourning Dove perhaps. Seriously, how does a Woodpigeon get to Texas? ebird.org/checklist/S2... @alexanderlees.bsky.social

It’s been a gorgeous sunny day for a wander up the Porter Valley, Sheffield to the edge of the @peakdistrict.bsky.social Highlights were three skeins of Pink-footed Geese totalling 384 WNW, Little Owl, Green Woodpecker, 3 Crossbill & Raven. @shefbirdstudy.bsky.social Also some nice fungi & inverts.

Great to read this short article about the Cors Ddyga Glossy Ibises. Written by naturalist Nigel Brown and illustrated with a truly stunning image by @jmjbirding.bsky.social apple.news/AsgfWVGZMQu6...

Any birders reporting autumn passage Ring Ouzels (esp in southern England) please look out for coloured leg rings on juveniles from the Peak District Eastern Moors project. 🙏 Report to [email protected] Combo of 3 colours on left leg @birdguides.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social #ukbirding

Birds in stained glass, freestanding #art or wall sculptures, rarely window panels. My birds are celebrations, explanations, rants and sometimes tears; but like the birds that inspire them, they are all beautiful dancers-with-light…

Daniel Gerber's 'Shad Fishery,' (1943) depicts townsfolk gathered on the riverbank at Cuttalossa, a Pennsylvanian hamlet tucked into a bend in the Delaware River, armed with nets to catch shad (a herring like fish) as they swim upstream.

Some positive plant news from the BSBI - Holly Fern rediscovered in Cwm Idwal after 150 years! share.google/ZlNYNfC4f6h2... And with a quote from our very own @bsbicymru.bsky.social Plant Atlas maps for Holly Fern here: share.google/9t1TB44l1G1i...

A #Roman figurine of a lizard, carved from a single piece of hyaline quartz. It was found in a Gallo-Roman tomb in Belgium, where it was buried as part of an assortment of grave goods about 2000 years ago (📷 MFAH, Brussels) 🏺 AncientBlueSky #Archaeology #RomanArchaeology

Most only get to see Sabine's Gulls through a rain-spattered 'scope, but this was the week to see them up close during the biggest ever Welsh influx. The week's sightings in #NorthWales in @northwaleslive.bsky.social BirdNotes. 📷 Kevin Hitch #BirdingWales www.birdnotes.wales/blog/gales-b...

With several sites in Wales hosting multiple Grey Phalaropes over the weekend, 2025 is now the best year this century, with 112. #BirdingWales The best-ever year will take some beating, however. 227 were seen from The Smalls lighthouse alone in just 12 days, during 18-29 September 1960.

When you consider that the UK relies heavily on imports of many tree crops (despite the fact that we have some of the best soils and climate for arboriculture in Europe) and simply removing herbivores naturally results in tree cover why are we not developing more agroforestry projects?

A spellbinding display from six Sabine's Gulls at Jackstones Pier, Aberavon. Incredible to witness at close quarters. Little Tern, Black Tern and two Grey Phalaropes also present.

🌸🐝 What do pollinators really need beyond flowers? Find out with Prof @jeffollerton.bsky.social in Gardening for Pollinators: It’s About More Than Just Flowers! Join us on 14 Jan 2026 on this Online Symposium. Check it out here: 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1419239717...

Morning fungal folk. Mycology books come in many variations; some are serious tones packed full of detailed scale drawings and scientific jargon… others leave you asking so many questions. “Hey guys, why is that man in a tuxedo holding a mushroom? Why the trumpet?” 🤣

All this raises the question: why should profits for investors be given priority over affordable, clean energy for all? www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

New funding for local groups to tackle nature recovery across UK - @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social Grants of up to £25,000 now available to improve nature for communities thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery c-js.co.uk/3KpHReM

Ian Carter and myself argued this point here www.whittlespublishing.com/Great_Miscon... - species with high dispersal capacity can typically naturally recolonise suitable habitats IF the original drivers of declines have been remediated.

The BHL online collection just hit 200,000 titles! A title could be a single rare book or an entire 200-year journal run, so 200,000 titles is huge (63+ million pages!). Check out BHL's MAMMOTH collection here: www.biodiversitylibrary.org 📖 🧪 🦣 #OpenAccess #OpenScience #ILoveBHL

Lots of Heathers; Ling, Cross-leaved, Bell, Cornish, Dorset & the hybrid between Dorset & Cross-leaved, Erica watsonii, I can't pick just one #favouriteplant for #wildflowerhour

One of the three Grey Phalaropes at Lisvane/Llanhishen reservoirs this morning. The Phalropes were seen to be occasionally taking to the air and picking off flying insects. #birdingwales

Good effort! After a few similar encounters (interesting birds heard but not logged) I now routinely run a free Voice Recorder Pro app on my iPhone when out and about. Have managed to confirm Serin & Red-throated Pipit here in recent years (both unseen). A real game-changer when hunting rares.

Although I can tolerate some of the abbreviations that birders use for species eg Spot Fly (Spotted Flycatcher) and Gropper (Grasshopper Warbler) today I heard someone describe a Pectoral Sandpiper as a ‘Peccie’ and I nearly did a homicide! 🙄 #UKBirding

Dr Tim Birkhead's end of year report on the Guillemots of Skomer www.sbsg.org/sbsg-news/th... #UKBIRDING #birdingwales

Fresh autumn Lesser Whitethroats are such smart birds, always a delight to see them. There was a small arrival in Cardiff Bay overnight and I managed to see a couple this morning #birdingWales #UKbirding #birds #naturephotography

This could be a big win for conservation, its just a shame it takes the threat of imminent annihilation to kick start it. 'To defend against Russian tanks, Finland and Poland consider restoring wetlands' share.google/HVq4vHMR8Txw...

An opportunity of a lifetime for budding lichenologists. The National Trust and the Royal Botanics, Edinburgh are offering a PAID lichen traineeship in #Scotland! The work programme looks fascinating and a great opportunity to develop skills. Deadline: 3/10/2025. www.asva.co.uk/jobs/trainee...

Here is the #biodiversity in the North West series of books by Professor Bruce Ing - five out of his eight publications with @uochesterpress: find out more about his #books here: storefront.chester.ac.uk/index.php?ma... #mycology #fungi

Aquatic hyphomycetes are a fascinating group of aquatic fungi. Most of them feed on dead leaves in flowing water. Their spores are usually either sinuous or four-armed to enable them to catch on to new food sources. @britmycolsoc.org.uk @funaction.bsky.social

🤣 People ripping down the covering over Banksy's art. Lets stop being ridiculous, let the world see its beauty.

Nobody asked for a niche song about #Terns ,but I made one! Now available to listen to on Spotify! #birds 🪶 open.spotify.com/artist/6XSka...

Massive respect to birders who work a patch hard, especially species-poor urban sites. Whenever I think of the latter the Sheffield Audouin’s Gull springs to mind. What an incredible record! A singing Savi’s Warbler was also reported from a patch of riverside vegetation in the suburbs this spring.

An hour’s seawatch off North Stack from 0730 was quiet with just two Arctic Skua, 19 Sandwich’, 9 Arctic’ and 49 ‘comic’ terns. A wander around the Breakwater Country Park afterwards produced 2 Spotted Flycatchers and a Firecrest by the top pond. #BirdingWales

I remember hearing about some montane reforestation project which provided acorns at a feeding (planting!) station that utilised the services of the local Jays to cache and disperse the seeds, therefore extending the tree line. Lovely painting too btw!

Intrigued by all the positive reviews I purchased the jacket below and a fleece when on special offer some years ago. The jacket’s single layer (can’t recall the name) and has never once kept me dry. You may as well be wearing paper and this is despite reproofing using the recommended products!

Chicory flowering by the roadside in Ely. #WildflowerHour

For sale on my little Etsy store – "Shell Nature Studies: September Flyway" in excellent condition. "An Autumn rush of migrants...driven across the North Sea." www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1...

20% of the world’s plant biodiversity is only found on islands. The proportion is even higher for reptiles and bats. #NatBatConf @batconservation.bsky.social

Wonderful no nonsense letter from Emma, Baroness Nicholson, to Sir Mark Rowley, Met Commissioner, on his officers' stupidity in arresting Graham Linehan because of a couple of angry tweets.

Fascinating world of ancient #glass: This magnificent #Roman #fish-shaped flask was found during the excavation of a storeroom in Begram/Afghanistan. It was probably made in a workshop at Alexandria/Egypt, dating 1st/2nd century AD. Begram was a....🧵1/2 🏺 #archaeology

So many people sit in fear due to a lack of police resources to investigate serious crimes. Yet 5 armed officers arrest Graham Linehan for tweets suggesting men who invade female spaces need challenging and maybe a kick in the balls. Isn’t this advice every parent gives to their daughters? 🙄

This month, WaderTales will be ten years old. I'm going to create a thread that highlights some of the research findings that have surprised me. Plenty of "Wow!" & "I didn't know that!" moments. Here's a link to the catalogue of 150 blogs wadertales.wordpress.com/about/ #ornithology