Bloors was relatively busy. Two locals up against the railings in time for the cover tide. Asked by a 3rd how I never get timing wrong. Once again, here's my 3 step guide that you can adapt for anywhere in the country.. 1/5 #KentNature #Medway estuary

Read more about our recent publication on increasing inclusivity in biological recording #citizenscience with @sei.org @savebutterflies.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social @plantlifeuk.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social & others www.sei.org/publications...

UK governments of all stripes have looked at cutting planning rules & 'red tape' to produce growth Previous evidence-based reviews have contradicted this view This UK govt is first one to take forward cutting of protections without bothering with evidence www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/evidenc...

Ivy takes years to grow to this size and this removal has completely undone all that growth - what we have now is another 'naked' oak tree, of which there are already plenty in the area. Please don't cut ivy down on our nature reserves. 💔🌱 Read all about ivy's role in biodiversity: kwtg.uk/ivy

If you missed my talk on alien plants and have an hour to kill before #TheTraitors (haha!), it’s now available here www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCdC.... Enjoy! @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Nature boys and girls – here’s your chance to get published in the Guardian - Our wildlife series Young Country Diary is looking for articles written by children (8-14, in the UK), about their winter encounters with nature 👇 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

One to save and quote. I’ve long had serious doubts about the promotion of the Miyawaki method in London.

We organised 3 New Year Plant Hunts over the last few days, in Ashford, in Whitstable & nr Dover. Scores 21, 20 and 35 plants in flower, respectively. Some highlights (pictured here) were Barren Strawberry, Butcher's-broom, Hazel & Small Nettle. @bsbibotany.bsky.social #NewYearPlantHunt #KentNature

The Far East corner of Kent gave us flowering plants in churchyard, road verges and harrowed fields. ⭐️ was Sharp-leaved Fluellen. 62 species for #NewYearPlantHunt #2

Cold wind but sunny - who would have expected Common Poppy to be flowering now, in the Far East Kent #NewYearPlantHunt ?

Surprise discovery in the garden today. This is an overwintering female European Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula). Formerly considered a vagrant species in the UK. It now appears to have scattered breeding populations across south-eastern England. #wasps @kentfieldclub.bsky.social

The two hour Dungeness seawatch with Martin produced 2 Velvet Scoters, 1 Pintail, 3 Shelduck, 222 Red-throated Divers, 2,000 auks with Gannets and Kittiwakes etc all heading East In other news the main Dungeness buoy has drifted a couple of hundred metres west after the NE gales… #KentBirding

Couple of interesting finds walking through Orlestone Forest in Kent. The first is Little Shaggy-moss (Rhytidiadelphus loreus) a very common species in the west of the UK but rather rare in Kent. The second is the lichen Pertusaria pertusa, a common epiphyte found on smooth and rough bark. 1/2

A couple of hours on Boxing Day at a very fresh Dungeness… One 1st winter Caspian Gull, Merlin and Dartford Warbler on Point 2 Bewick Swans at Cockles Bridge 7 White-fronted Geese at Lydd and 3 White-fronted Geese over Scotney plus 2 Black-necked Grebes en route back to office #KentBirding

A scarce species in Kent, but with scattered records over the last couple of years. One to look out for next summer. #KentNature

A look back to March/April here in mid-Kent and the well documented Large Tortoiseshells in Orlestone forest,many were seen by many enthusiasts from all over the country .I was lucky enough to see 9 (3 in 24') plus a couple of probables. Heres 4 of various ages. 1 very pale individual #ukbutterflies

A probable Pallid Swift, the 7th Dusky Warbler of the autumn and the reappearance of two Shore Lark made for a good December week in Kent birding. See kentos.org.uk for full highlights. #kentbirding #birdguides

New #PECBMS update! The Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme gathers data from monitoring schemes across Europe on breeding bird populations. BTO contributes data through @bbs-birds.bsky.social and the Waterways Breeding Bird Survey.

Decided to walk between Rochester and Chatham railway stations today, essentially along the just-under-a mile that is Limehouse Reach, river #Medway. Managed to 'tog 5 of the territorial Common Sands along there. (Interesting how at w/ends cross more often to far shore rocks.) No #1: #KentNature

A nice week of winter birding with Black Guillemot, winter swans and ducks, the Hume’s Warbler again and an increase in Caspian Gulls. For all weekly highlights in Kent see kentos.org.uk. #kentbirding #birdguides

A new study shows that over 90% of insect biomass declines are driven by shrinking species numbers, posing a risk to ecosystem function. www.idiv.de/majority-of-... #biodiversity

Kent Field Club's Ian Tittley speaking on kelp decline at yesterday's excellent East Kent Conservation Research Symposium at the University of Kent. #EastKent #KentWildlife #algae #seaweed #kelp

Later than usual (printer problems) SBBOT 2024 Annual Report now out. Biodiversity hotspot: 228 bird sp (inc first Brown Booby & breeding Pintail, 1st for Kent since 1981), 25 sp butterfly 379/374 sp macro/micromoth, 29 sp odonata (inc breeding Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly, 1st for Kent) #KentNature

New research from Belgium doesn’t support the ‘lost generation’ theory for the decline of the Wall, but does show reduced survival with warming temperatures 🌍 nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... (📷 Mark Searle)

A few Southern Emerald Damselfly seen at Cliffe Marshes, North Kent in early July. Nationally scarce and a stunner to study and photograph. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @dragonflydamselfly.bsky.social #Teamdragonfly #UKwildlife

A special online event 7 – 8:30pm on 4th December will take a journey thru Bumblebee Cons Trust projects in SE England: Buzzing in the East End; Kent Plan Bee; Short-haired Bumblebee project & Bee Connected; Moss Carder Project; & a peek at upcoming projects! On zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/8656875046...

Looking for the ideal Christmas present for the wildlife-lover in your life? Take a peek at our publications page - www.kentfieldclub.org.uk/publications... #KentNature #NaturalHistory #NatureBooks #naturewriting #biodiversity

Some #fungi from the recent Kent Field Club meeting at Kilndown Park, near Scotney in the High Weald National Landscape. Names & credits in alt text. English names from the excellent list on the @britmycolsoc.org.uk website - Umbilicate Hedgehog both descriptive and euphonious. #KentNature

Our AIDGAP sale is back! 🌿 Save up to 25% on selected identification guides and atlases — from plant galls to wasps, perfect for autumn and winter learning. Shop now: buff.ly/IRByfaa

Day 15 of the #NovemberFlowerChallenge, and a good one despite the mist. Some good chalk species added from Lydden, including a late Autumn Gentian, Basil Thyme, Dyers Greenweed and a solitary Botanists’ Thistle. And Monkey-Flower by the Dour. Now on 228 species.

BBC reporting the huge plastic pellet spillage from Southern Water's Eastbourne wastewater site has now started turning up in the county on the Dungeness Peninsula. #KentNature Carcinogenic microplastic that smell like food. 🤔 No wonder wildlife eats 'em.. www.theguardian.com/environment/... 1/2

Longrock SSSI Whitstable Kent 9/11. Saw this striking fly which looks good for Ectophasia crassipennis a recent addition to the British list but have been seen in more frequently in the county @kentfieldclub.bsky.social #flies #insects #tachinid #inverterbrates #ukwildlife

An unexpected outage for iRecord and other Indicia systems this weekend means that you won't be able to add records to the websites. It is still possible to add records to the iRecord apps, but you won't be able to upload them until this is fixed 😞

Two Pallas’s Warblers (1 Trapping Area and one at Old Lighthouse) and two Yellow-browed Warblers in Trapping Area this morning - Dungeness Woodlark, Woodcock, Dartford Warblers, crests, finches etc Couldn’t clinch an ID on an Acro - which hopefully might be around tomorrow #Kentbirding

Emblematic & symbolic of Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory, today's "seven-striped Siberian sprite" Pallas's Warbler 😁 was the 58th recorded at the Bay (of which 24 ringed) since the first (also for Kent) on Nov 23rd 1958❗. The earliest Oct 11th in 1975, the latest Dec 31st 1998 #KentBirding #KentNature

Day seven of the #Novemberflowerchallenge saw us on the chalk arable fields of the East Kent prairies. 10 more species, including Common Poppy and Thyme-leaved Sandwort, bring the total up to 180.

This is why all us field naturalists do what we do ... species matter, and studying them matters.

Goose barnacles washed up at Samphire Hoe today.

Wild Roses of Great Britain & Ireland (latest title in the series of #BSBIHandbooks for tricky plants) is due out this month! Final proofs now with authors Gareth & Roger. Interview with them about the new Handbook here: bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/10/inte... £16 for #BSBImembers until 24 Nov.

Lachnus roboris, Variegated Oak Aphid, found by a colleague at East Malling, Kent, this lunchtime. Not many records on the NBN Gateway of this super duper ginormous wee beastie! @kentfieldclub.bsky.social @nbntrust.bsky.social #KentNature #Nature

We are delighted that Kent Field Club member and Diptera and Symphyta recorder, Laurence Clemons, has been recognised for his outstanding contribution to #entomology.

The Dungeness wider recording area 2025 total is now 239sp by end of Oct New birds in no particular order - Pallid Harrier, Pallas’s and Yellow-browed Warblers, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Little Auk, Whooper Swan, Black Guillemot and Twite A record breaking year for species total now #KentBirding

🦇 We are still receiving calls for injured and grounded bats, if you do find a bat that needs help, please contact the Bat Conservation Trust National Bat Helpline on 0345 1300 228 or report it via our website www.kentbatgroup.org.uk or simply google "help I've found a bat" for advice

A good hare day yesterday at Elmley NNR. A beautiful Brown Hare in the field next to the car park. 🤎

Discussing the conservation of arable plants at Plantlife’s wonderful reserve in Kent. youtu.be/bZaUAsvrHS0?...

Protecting Waxcaps: All the Losses We Cannot See. Britain’s waxcap grasslands are considered to be some of the best in Europe.... www.plantlife.org.uk/protecting-w...

Bumped into this mint fresh Small Copper on Dungeness NNR, Kent this morning and I reckon it has to be a fourth generation I have only seen a few in the last month and the earlier broods/peaks were weeks early compared to previous years @savebutterflies.bsky.social #ukbutterflies

Have you discovered the Kent Nature feed on Blue Sky? Dedicated to wildlife in Kent, UK. Tag your posts with #KentNature to appear in the feed.