I love a weird fly..

Trying to help Juniper regeneration at Aston Rowant NNR chalk grassland on the Chilterns. Collecting Juniper berries to de-flesh & sow in scrapes & planting out a 3 yr old rooted cutting. Protection needed from rabbits, sheep and deer grazing for any young plants! @rowantnnr.bsky.social

Fabulous fungus!

I just love wrens...

The complexity of biodiversity on this planet is almost unbelievable...

Nice to see the ponds full again at last!

I love an interesting little weevil

Fascinating how some plants can have very long-lived seed like White Mullein and others have seed that is not even viable for one year, like quaking grass Briza media

Through the Lye Valley #Oxford

Exciting toadstool confirmed by DNA, such a useful tool these days.

Help Benji raise money by buying some of his cards and prints?

Need some uplifting? listen..

So many species still not discovered, biodiversity nowhere near fully documented. Absence of records is not absence of extinction..

Winter in an old oakwood. Collared earthstar, winter #moth & mast yr - many acorns germinating - already some roots very long. Taking a few away to grow on as they have little chance to survive growing right under parent tree. Why huge size & shape variation in acorns? @thekentacorn.bsky.social

#Fungi can be very weird

I signed, peat needs to stay in the ground!

Slightly ethereal feel to the Valley this morning, as the low winter sun caught the mist rising from the fen. Totally magical! #OxfordshireFens #FenRestoration @judywebb.bsky.social

As Oxford grapples with rising flood risks and strained green spaces, nature-based solutions offer a way to strengthen the city’s resilience | Steve Dawe

I see this all the time. SSSIs declining through lack of management and no power to reverse the decline.

On this day four years ago, we were treated to this fabulous sunset in the Lye Valley. Sadly we've not seen anything like it since! #OxfordshireFens #AltoCumulousClouds #PhotoHour #Landscape #EastCoastKin @judywebb.bsky.social

Fascinating historic fungal illustrations..

Old grassland can be botanically common place but may hide rare #fungi, if only you could look at it at the right few days in autumn. Here two tiny brown caps of the New To Britain (by DNA at Kew) Pulverulina praticola on 23.10.2025. In Oxford on mown grassland on calc. clay. #fungifriends

Pet parasiticides are entering soils and waterways, harming the very ecosystems we depend on. Ministers must act on the evidence and reduce this chemical load on nature. #EnvironmentalProtection #NatureRecovery

Want to see a fantastic beetle? I always do....

Terrible news for wildlife...

Watch my most recent talk at your leisure here: wsrt.org.uk/news/insect-...

A very cold and frosty morning for our volunteers today, but at least we had sunshine! #OxfordshireFens #FenRestoration #OX3 @judywebb.bsky.social

It's remarkable how much #FenRestoration (and other #conservation work) comes down to the repetition of these two simple tasks. Scything and raking. Maybe not glamorous (especially the raking!), but vital to controlling rank vegetation and letting other plants thrive. #OxfordshireFens #GreenSpaces 🌍

Autumn in the Lye Valley. Our scything team have done a great job in cutting large parts of both the east and west SSSI. Lots still to do though, and we've now got a huge backlog of cut material waiting to be taken off the fen. #OxfordshireFens #FenRestoration #OX3 🌍

I do love a slimy toadstool..

The stripyest of pretty little fungus gnats! Flies that breed mostly in fungi, harmless - don't bite (they may not even have mouth parts or feed, correct me if I'm wrong). I've reared lots of sorts from fungi. Important in recycling, vital food for insectivores @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

Fungi aren't always beautiful! Ugly, grey-black, scaly, bruises red - but I just love the weirdness! #fungifriends

#BIodiversity - in a parlous state across these isles www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Pretty #fungi . A troop of fragile, hairy inkcaps that might be Hare's foot inkcaps, some rather pale Scarlet Bonnets and just look how attractive (like flowers) the gills on the undersides of small oysterlings, Crepidotus sp can be. #fungifriends

The Environment Agency needs proper funding to investigate, prosecute criminals, clear waste and prevent further such abuse of illegal waste dumping on land, especially near rivers such as the Cherwell.

Luscious Guelder Rose berries for birds & attractive coloured leaves on Wild Service trees & Turkey tail fungi in Lye Valley. I love autumn! @friendlyevalley.bsky.social

Turkey tail bracket #fungi looking just like...Turkey tails & very pleased to find one delightfully icky Slimy Waxcap Gliophorus irrigatus waxcap in low nutrient grassland on limestone at Dunstan Park, Oxford. Slimy cap and slimy stipe - hard to get hold of it was so slime covered! #fungifriends

If only all Labour MPs would listen to this young man and support the Lords amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure bill.

Good news; the section of Lye Valley fen boardwalk destroyed by arson in the summer has been repaired by Oxford City Council Parks staff- thanks! @friendlyevalley.bsky.social

It's an interesting question! Some colourful pigments have functions like being antibiotics, so in some cases it might be an unintended effect of a useful chemical www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...

A big mystery of autumn. Why are certain #fungi fruiting bodies spectacular colours? Yes a lot are white buff /brown, but bright yellow, red, green, blue -just why? L -Parrot waxcaps here from @rowantnnr.bsky.social. Green (look hard) & yellow, go pink later. R- Orange cup Melastiza cornubiensis

An easy one for Monday morning. Spot the bird. 😃 #birds #UKWildlife

Grassland #fungi time Excellent finds at Aston Rowant NNR included earthtongues, yellow spindles, beige coral, parrot waxcaps & the rare tiny brown toadstools called Fanvaults -the Hodophilus (Camarophyllopsis) species (last 2) some of which smell of mothballs! #fungifriends @rowantnnr.bsky.social

Introducing... The League of Unlikely Ocean Heroes! 🦸 Seagrass, mussels, kelp and native oysters filter pollutants, capture carbon and protect habitats. But they’re facing challenges from dredging to climate change. Help them thrive again by donating today 👉 https://actmcs.org/oyster-hero-bsky

I grew up in Thanet, visiting the wildlife of Minster Marshes. Partly they made me who I am. They deserve protection.

Decades ago, part of the Lye Brook was deepened and widened, with peat piled on the banks. One side effect was to block the flow of spring water here. We've made a start on reprofiling this part of the fen, with a view to rewetting this currently dry area. 🌍 #OxfordshireFens #FenRestoration

A most spectacular growth of the common Candle snuff fungus Xylaria polymorpha, on a log uncovered by scything at Rivermead Nature Park in Oxford #fungi #fungifriends

The Holy Grail for all fascinated by fungi. How I would love to find a Pepperpot Earthstar!

Delighted to spot this Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) in the Valley this morning. An occasional visitor here, they love fishing in our ponds. 😍 #birds #UKWildlife #OX3 #OxfordshireFens 📷 @everyheron.bsky.social @judywebb.bsky.social @tverc1.bsky.social

Finally caught up with the Kingfisher that has been visiting the Lye Valley top ponds. Also a Blackcap and a couple of Chiffchaffs are still hanging on into November in the Lye Valley woods. @friendlyevalley.bsky.social #ukbirding #OxonBirding