Saturday’s course in Plant-Pathogenic Fungi was a lesson in looking closer! This understudied group of fungi can affect the yield or pollen production of the affected plant. Many spp are a food source for invertebrates such as slugs! Huge thanks to Jake Dalzell for facilitating this course!

It’s No Mow May @ulsterfolkmuseum.org & lots of native wildflowers are popping up. Let us know what’s growing in your local no mow patch on the iRecord app or CEDaR Online Recording!

Showing a little love to this snap from April's "what exactly is?" post. Our Marine Data Manager photographed this Common Sea Star, regenerating from one limb, while out on a dive!

There's still spaces on our Plant Pathogenic Fungi Course this Saturday - sign up at the link!

Records with photographs are easier to verify! Here's a few tips on getting the right snaps - they don't need to be perfect, they just need to include the correct ID features. You can submit between 4-10 photos depending on weather you use iRecord or CEDaR Online Recording.

Let us know if you hear a cuckoo calling: www2.habitas.org.uk/records/subm...

This week attendees at our Riverflies course learned to identify Mayflies, Stoneflies & Caddisflies (under recorded in NI) to genus level. Thanks to Craig MacAdam, BugLife & Helen James, National Museums NI for their delivery of this course; and to @belfasthills.bsky.social for facilitating!

Species of the month: Common cuckoo (𝘊𝘶𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘴)! 🔎Cuckoos are grey in colour with a long tail, black beak & yellow eyes with distinctive rings. 🐛Their diet consists mostly of insects & hairy caterpillars.

What a great find Mel! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Calling all recreational anglers - tell us about your catch🎣 Fish are an under-recorded species group in Northern Ireland, but vital to aquatic habitats and our economy. Submit a photo of your catch on CEDaR Online Recording or the iRecord App: www2.habitas.org.uk/records/angl...

What exactly is starfish regeneration?

It's all a-buzz for our pollinators this summer! Join us in June for a beginner field course in hoverfly identification at Oxford Island. We'll learn the key id features before heading outside to put our new skills to the test. Tickets at link: nationalmuseumsni.digitickets.co.uk/event-ticket...

Learn about the fascinating world of plant pathogens in our fungi course this spring. Discover more about their fascinating interactions with native plant species, and how to identify species in the field. See link for tickets: nationalmuseumsni.digitickets.co.uk/event-ticket...

We had a wonderful time last Wednesday, learning all about seaweed. From collection, to identification & pressing, thanks to Christine Maggs for running this course, & to all our fantastic attendees.

City Nature Challenge is this weekend! Get out into nature & get recording! Visit the link to find out how to get involved: mailchi.mp/11d11de3d492... @bsbiireland.bsky.social

To kick off National Mammal Week, we hosted Animal Detectives @ulsterfolkmuseum.org 🕵️ We learnt to ID mammal footprints, homes & poos 🐾 Don't forget you can record signs, as well as sightings, for our mammal recording project! 📲

The brook lamprey (𝘓𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘪) is the only of Ireland’s three lamprey species that spends its entire life in freshwater! A primitive fish, it is jawless – instead possessing a sucker-like mouth which it uses to move rocks and create nests called redds where it deposits eggs.

We'll be joining @bsbibotany.bsky.social & BugLife at this BioBlitz for this year's #CityNatureChallenge Come along & chat to us about how your @inaturalist.bsky.social records can be used to promote conservation in Northern Ireland! Checkout what Wild Belfast are up to too!

Recording wildlife with us is simple, we only need to know WHO, WHAT, WHERE & WHEN. Get recording today on CEDaR Online Recording or the iRecord App📲

Dive deeper into the world of Freshwater Insects with our 2-day ID course! Mayflies, stoneflies & caddisflies are excellent indicators of water quality, & used in habitat monitoring world-wide. 📆 6th - 7th May 📍 Belfast Hills nationalmuseumsni.digitickets.co.uk/event-ticket...

Species of the month: common swift (𝘈𝘱𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘶𝘴)! 📏In flight they can be seen to have long boomerang-shaped wings & forked tail. They are brown in colour though they may appear black against the sky. 🪰Their diet consists of flying insects, they avoid stinging species.

DiveNI is back! Click the link below to see footage from a recent dive: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ojw...

Strong winds are expected across Northern Ireland over Easter weekend as Storm Dave passes over. Gusts of 50-60mph are forecast with exposed areas facing even stronger winds up to 80mph. In NI, the peak of this stormy weather is anticipated for early afternoon on Saturday 4th.

Looking for an activity over Easter break? Join us for a Wildlife Walk @ulsterfolkmuseum.org as Spring blooms all around us and nature comes to life! 📅10th April ⏰2pm Book tickets: www.ulsterfolkmuseum.org/whats-on/wil...

Search for clues @ulsterfolkmuseum.org where your family can tracking & identifying the tell-tale signs of mammals that live amongst us. This family workshop is a perfect day out for detectives, young and old! See the link for tickets: www.ulsterfolkmuseum.org/whats-on/be-...

April Fish! 🎣 Cuckoo Wrasse (Labrus mixtus) is 1 of our most colourful native fish. A marine species living in rocky reefs. 🧡Females are pink-orange w/ black & white markings 💙Males are electric blue w/ orange patches Check out the new recording page: www2.habitas.org.uk/records/angl...

What exactly is aposematic signalling? ❌Many species advertise to predators that they will be harmed by their defences like toxicity or bad taste if they attack them. 🎨This is done via signals like bright colours, unpleasant odours, noises or other characteristics.

Join this year’s #CityNatureChallenge, April 24–27 & contribute to the world’s largest #CommunityScience event 🌍 With National Museums NI, Wild Belfast, @bsbibotany.bsky.social & BugLife All you need is the free @inaturalist.bsky.social app📲 Join the project: www.inaturalist.org/projects/cit...

Last week 60 amazing volunteers planted 1000 native trees @ulsterfolkmuseum.org 🌳 Thanks to everyone who was involved & also @tcvnational.bsky.social, Woodland Trust & National Museums NI. Happy to see oak, hazel, alder, cherry & rowan saplings in our woodland ahead of international day of forests🌱

Search for clues at the @ulsterfolkmuseum.org Track & identify the tell-tale signs of mammals that live amongst us🦔 This family workshop is a perfect day out for detectives, young & old! 📆Saturday 18th April ⏰11am-2pm Get tickets: www.ulsterfolkmuseum.org/whats-on/be-...

Delve into the world of Plant Pathogenic Fungi with Jake Dalzell this spring in our fully outdoor session. 📆 Saturday 16th May ⏰ 10am-4pm Get tickets: nationalmuseumsni.digitickets.co.uk/event-ticket...

Spp of the month: Boston Facelina 🫥Has transparent head & visible red oesophagus. 📏Up to 55mm. Red-brown cerata (tentacles) can be ½ body length. White spots along tails & between rhinophores (sensory antennae-like organs). Long oral tentacles & pink patch around the mouth.

Wood Anemone can be a sign of ancient woodland. Found between the trees @ulsterfolkmuseum.org, this slow-growing pollinator food plant was once thought to be a lucky charm. Last year we received 77 records of Anemonoides nemorosa. Let us know if you see any this year!

Collect & identify species of seaweed found in the Intertidal & Subtidal zones of NI with Emeritus Prof Christine Maggs! Some experience of recording or using a microscope is recommended for this course. Get tickets: nationalmuseumsni.digitickets.co.uk/event-ticket...

Happy to share info on a funded AHRC CDP4 PhD Opportunity: 🌱 Reawakening the Living Landscape: Integrating Heritage & Sustainability at the Ulster Folk Museum. With 4 supervisors from Newcastle Uni & National Museums NI If interested, please see link: www.ncl.ac.uk/hca/study/hi...

A call to budding botanists across Ireland: Find out how to record your first 100 plants in tonight's great webinar! 🌸🍁🌱🌼🌿🌾🪷🪻🌳 More info: bsbi.org/take-part/ev... @npwsireland.bsky.social @cedar-ni.bsky.social @irishwildlifetrust.bsky.social @irishwildlife.bsky.social #botany #Ireland #recording

Dive NI is a website for divers in Northern Ireland to find new sites to explore 🌊 Check it out under the new address: dive-ni.org & don't forget to submit your marine sightings on our website 🪼

This #WorldWildlifeDay the focus is on medicinal & aromatic plants!

The first signs of spring @ulsterfolkmuseum.org Lesser celandine, with its yellow flower & heart shaped leaves signifies “joys to come”. It’s one of the first pollinator food sources to emerge after winter! Last spring we received 105 records of Ficaria verna. Let us know if you see it this year!

We'd a busy 2wks with @niscifest.bsky.social: 🔎“Look Closer” with QUB, showing nature up close to 0-5yr olds 🌱Wildlife Walk to find signs of nature in the cold 🌳Woodland Restoration tour behind the scenes at the Folk Museum ✏️ Climate+ Co-Centre "Rights of Nature" asking if nature can have rights

For a taster of what's in the latest edition of our fantastic #BSBINews magazine, visit bsbi.org/learn/period.... Or become a member to read the whole thing! @ucddublin.bsky.social @uniofgalwaylib.bsky.social @ucclibrary.bsky.social @atu-ie.bsky.social #Irishplants #botany @cedar-ni.bsky.social

#WhatExactlyIs the hungry gap?

Join us this Saturday for @niscifest.bsky.social & take a behind the scenes look at conservation projects happening at the Ulster Folk Museum, from invasive species removal to woodland restoration. See link for tickets: www.ulsterfolkmuseum.org/whats-on/beh...

#Speciesofthemonth is the common earwig!

CEDaR recently received six records of strandings following Storm Chandra, these included records of the curled octopus (𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘢). 🐙

With Valentine’s Day approaching , let us introduce you to @lovedataweek.bsky.social ! 💝 A celebration of all things data, this year’s theme asks “Where’s the Data?”🌱 When you submit sightings, they travel a long way to help protect NI’s wildlife! #LoveData26 #citizenscience #Conservation

CEDaR's Surveillance Officer worked with colleagues at the NIEA on their Habitat Regulations Reporting. It reviews the conservation status of 32 species & 50 habitats across NI. Read the overview report: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/sites/defaul...

Happy National Hedgehog Day 2026 🦔 If you are lucky enough to see a hedgehog, be sure to record your sighting and upload it to our NI Mammal Recording Project, available on our website or via the iRecord app! 📲 We accept camera trap footage! 📸

#WhatExactlyIs Have you ever walked along the beach & noticed a piece of seaweed that looks like a small pouch? Well, its not actually seaweed at all! 👛

Database update ❕ Our terrestrial & freshwater data team have recently surpassed 3 million records uploaded to our Recorder6 database! 🌱 Thank you to everyone who has submitted records to us and helped us achieve this milestone, here’s to the next 3 million! 🎉