There may be no Arctic Monkeys up here in Ålta in Finnmark with Mariposa Nature Tours on their Butterflies of the Arctic trip, but they do have Arctic Ringlets and Arctic Graylings, which will have to do! 🦋😂 #mariposanaturetours #europeanbutterflies #hardybutterflies #arcticadventures

Not just butterflies here in the Arctic! Frog and its orchid too. #mariposanaturetours #frogs #arcticorchids

A great start to butterflies of the Arctic with #mariposanaturetours Green veined white, Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow and Cranberry Blue. #hardybutterflies #arcticbutterflies #68’N

Fabulous five days on Svalbard with Hurtigruten Svalbard, and here are some of the Arctic flora I discovered, including “trees”! #svalbard #arcticflora #wildflowers #hardyanddetermined

There’s orchids; and then there are the vanishingly rare Water Germander, the Sand pansy and Sand toadflax. A few treasures to be discovered on Braunton Burrows. Thanks Roger Harding and Mary Breed for taking us hunting @rogercharding.bsky.social #wildflowerhour #devonorchids #coastalflowers

Also available in Purple. Gorgeous white Southern Marsh Orchid on Braunton Burrows yesterday. @lizlouise.bsky.social @stevieparsons.bsky.social @withylake.bsky.social Field trip for the Hardy Orchid Society 6 species of orchids found with a host of other rare and wonderful flora.

So excited to track down these gorgeous, green lemon Fen orchids at Kenfig Nature Reserve today. What gems! #fenorchids #orchidsofbritain #wildflowerhour #tinyflowers

Buried alive! 😳😂 Common stinkhorn living up to its name- Phallus impudicus

Delighted to find these little angels peeping out of a wild bankside on a busy junction in Exmouth. Long may the council let verges grow free

31/5/26 - It has been a joy to lead our annual #OrchidsOfKent tour alongside @dunnjons.bsky.social. My highlight was catching #pseudocopulation in action for the second year running; this time a Eucera bee on a Late Spider #Orchid (Ophrys fuciflora). For the #wildflowerhour #OrchidChallenge

Managing my withdrawal symptoms by going hunting locally, after an intoxicating week in Abruzzo with @mariposanature.bsky.social #butterflies #orchids

It’s that time of year again, and a pretty perfect evening for hunting Nightjars; my luck was in from the moment I set foot on the common. Magical to experience these enigmatic birds 🤩

It’s homeward bound after a fantastic week of chasing butterflies in the eyesmacking landscapes of Abruzzo with @mariposanature.bsky.social led by the incomparable team of @dunnjons.bsky.social and Miki Vigano. Thanks to both for everything. What a time we’ve all had!🦋🤩

The butterflies and orchids of Abruzzo have been exceptional this last week for me and my @mariposanature.bsky.social group. (The food has been wonderful too!) It won't be long at all before I'm back in Italy to explore further with my Italian friends - I'm only just getting started...

Orchis spitzelii was a long-awaited first for me today, an orchid I looked at in a field guide 35 years ago and yearned to see one day. Orchis pallens on the other hand wasn't new, but it's been a while, and it's a species I love unreservedly for its elegance and clear colours.

It’s been a ridiculously early, true blue Spring this year. Nothing can beat the gracious elegance of the English Bluebell, epitomising this most lovely season. Sad to think her reign will be over all too soon.

Tour update 🚨 Our flagship #OrchidsOfRhodes tour now has just 2 places left available to join us in 2028. The 2027 tour is long ago fully booked - our orchid tours fill quickly as guests know they're the ultimate experience, and accept no pale imitation. www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

What do you get when a bee and a fly get it together🐝 🪰? These scrummily gorgeous Ophrys apifera x Ophrys insectifera hybrids of course! Great day out hunting with Martin East

Lady Orchid 💃 (Orchis purpurea), Monkey orchid 🐵 (Orchis simia) and some of their many and varied offspring at Hartslock yesterday. Thanks to Martin East for taking me to find this stunning family 💖

This is what happens when a man and a naked man get together in Sicily… stylish, Armani clad offspring! (Ophrys anthropophora x Ophrys Italica = Ophrys bivonae) Swoonworthy finds with @mariposanature.bsky.social 💚💖🤩

Yummy acid drop of an Ophrys Lacaitae here in Sicily with @mariposanature.bsky.social 😋

Forget supercalifragilistic… here we have four faces of supercalliantha (Ophrys calliantha to address her correctly😂) What a variety on show here in Sicily with Mariposa Nature Tours led by the super combo of Jon Dunn and Andrea Corso. @mariposanature.bsky.social @dunnjons.bsky.social

Some stellar finds here on Sicily with the amazing Mariposa Team Sicilia, Jon Dunn and Andrea Corso 🤩 @dunnjons.bsky.social @mariposanature.bsky.social Ophrys mirabilis Ophrys grandiflora Ophrys lacaiteae What a line up…💖

Dactylorhiza sambucina. Angels on the catwalk flaunting their collection of outfits. Absolutely fabulous!

Ever felt like you’re being watched? 👀 These endemic Etna birch certainly have that effect! It’s not just about the orchids here in Sicily with #mariposanaturetours led by the legendary Mariposa Team Sicilia Jon Dunn and Andrea Corso @dunnjons.bsky.social @mariposanature.bsky.social

Tour update 🚨 As of this morning, with two more places booked by returning guests, our #OrchidsOfCrete tour is now a guaranteed departure. This year, the peerless @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social and our group saw 59 species there. What will 2027 bring? 🙏 #orchids www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

Sadly an increasingly rare sight - the dainty circle of dancers that is the Ragged Robin.

23/4/26 #OrchidsOfCrete - Live from the field! Today’s 6am club has proven particularly rewarding, as we have tracked down a Bee #Orchid (Ophrys apifera; great find by Acid John and both variants of Ophrys candica. Bee #Orchids can be quite elusive in the mediterranean @mariposanature.bsky.social

From a day of dizzying hybrid Ophrys bee #orchid combinations with my @mariposanature.bsky.social guests here in the Gargano, some light relief in the form of a couple of mild variations - a flavescent form of Ophrys apulica, and a peloric Ophrys bertolonii.

A final postcard from the field as our #OrchidsOfSardinia tour draws to a close, from tour leader Michele Viganò: On our last day we found, after a good search, some Dactylorhiza insularis in bloom. This took us to 33 species for the week, with 6 bonus hybrid combinations also seen... (1/2)

Postcard from the field from our brilliant Italian orchid-hunter tour leader, Michele Viganò: The Orchids of Sardinia tour connected well with Sardinian uber-endemic Ophrys panattensis - not only endemic to the island, but restricted solely to the island's north-east. #orchids

Apple Blossom Time! Orchards in full bloom… the scent just intoxicating 💖

Two shades of Wild Radish here for tonight’s #wildflowerhour #CabbageFamily Cruciforms of delight 🤩🤍💛

Well worth the detour to discover this bevy of beauties! Who doesn’t love the Early Purple Orchid and her white sisters? Thank you @rogercharding.bsky.social for your tips to finding them! #orchismascula #wildflowerhour #britishorchids

As Beyoncé might have sung had she only spent some time hanging out with Erebia, if you like it then you shoulda put a ringlet on it. Erebia ringlets are a particular highlight of our tour in the Hautes Pyrenees, with some special species to be found there. www.mariposanature.com/tours/butter...

Cornwall Council has informed town and parish councils that its wholly owned contractor Cormac will resume widespread use of the chemical weedkiller glyphosate on roads and footways throughout Cornwall. Please sign the petition and share. www.change.org/p/cornwall-c...?

Spotted on the coast path above Talland Bay yesterday… This rather cute looking dark-edged bee-fly (Bombylius major) is deliberately gathering dust on the tip of her abdomen The fine coating of dust helps give her eggs just enough weight, so when she hovers above the entrance of a ground… 1/3

Lovely views of Ophrys attaviria and Ophrys blitopertha, among others, as the species count for our #OrchidsOfRhodes tour passed 50 today, and we're only halfway through the week... It's not all about numbers, of course - we're all about quality as well as quantity! #orchids

A bit early for #wildflowerhour tonight, but hey! Found some real beauties today💛 #cowslipchallenge And with early spider orchids and green winged orchids in the adjacent field, I think that pretty much fits the bill for a successful day! 💜💚 #springflowers #britishorchids #beautifulflowers

Springtime! The only pretty ring time 💕

Dune/Sand/Warren… whatever your preference, this Crocus by any other name would still be super sweet! (Romulea columnae… I like Dune Crocus) #dawlishwarren #wildcrocus #springflowers #wildflowerhour #rareplant #tinyflowers

Found this delightful teeny tiny yesterday at Dawlish Warren (little finger nail for scale). I am told it’s an Early Forget-me-not (Myosotis ramosissima) but am happy to be corrected. It was pretty damned beautiful, anyway! 💙

If you go down to the woods today… you won’t see any teddy bears, but hundreds of these lovely sherbet lemons await to carry you away!🍋 #wilddaffodils #wildflowers #wildflowerhour #springtime #woodlandflowers

All white, I give you the fabulously named Three Cornered Leek (Allium triquetrum), which is growing in profusion right now #wildflowerhour #whiteflowers #springflowers

Excited to see one of my PhD chapters now published! We found a trade-off between the quality of host plants and how warm they were for a declining grassland butterfly (Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas) and looked at how this shaped their egg-laying choices: doi.org/10.1111/een....

Took a “short” detour on my way back to Devon to get the Orchid season underway. Himantoglossum robertianum looking quite resplendent on a steep embankment. Got to love the green goggles! #wildflowerhour #orchids #giantorchids #beautifulflowers😍

We RSPB volunteers don’t often get to work on the wet heath beside this wet woodland area. Just had to nip in and absorb the ethereal atmosphere there

A lovely interruption from writing about orchids - pre-publication copies of my new book for children have arrived. Writing this meant a lot to me. As a kid I was desperate for books full of interesting facts and cool stuff about butterflies. If this book finds a kid like me, I hope they love it.

Gannets are fabulous. But they've had it tough lately. Marine pollution's a constant problem, and avian influenza hit them hard. The last thing they need is an annual hunt, even a small one in the name of tradition. Please consider signing to stop the hunt: petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE...

Postcard live from the field this morning in Cyprus, where tour leader @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social is on the ground doing our thorough preparations for the upcoming Orchids of Cyprus tour. The island is wonderfully lush and verdant after a wet spell, and the #orchids are looking magnificent.