Some stuff I learned today at #Ento25: 1. Honeybee threats to native pollinators were already known about 89 years ago in the US. 2. There is a louse fly on Nightjars, recently newly recorded in the UK. 3. Ladybirds rock (okay, I already knew that!). @royentsoc.bsky.social @alanknox.bsky.social

The cloud finally cleared a while after totality of tonight’s lunar eclipse.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth, on Valerian, Minehead, yesterday evening. #TeamMoth

Calling all mothers trappers…. Check out this great project from @ukceh.bsky.social

Burnished Brass [Diachrysia chrysitis] with Parasitic Wasp takeover (I think). Interesting to watch. Any help with identification? Never seen this behaviour before. @norfolkmoths.bsky.social @timstrudwick.bsky.social #norfolk #moths #teammoths #muchadoaboutmothing

Humans outperform Merlin Sound ID in field-based point-count surveys | doi.org/10.1093/orni... | Ornithological Applications | #ornithology 🪶

New paper: rdcu.be/eyR0w Great to see this one out, concerning findings but a lot more to understand about the ecology and transmission of AMR bacteria in wild bird populations and at bird feeders #ornithology 🧪

Weekend challenge, can you get further than the second paragraph of this paper without falling asleep? Or maybe you just need something to help you to dose off? In case you are wondering, it's part of the second chapter of my DPhil. doi.org/10.1007/s116...

Wild great tits display early behavioral signs of pair separation during winter, with less time spent together predicting a higher likelihood of "divorce" before the next breeding season.

Must time for bed, a Nightjar is flying around the field outside my window.

BEAST X for Bayesian phylogenetic, phylogeographic and phylodynamic inference www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In an unconscionable decision, the Smithsonian Institute has decided to no longer support the Biodiversity Heritage Library from 1 Jan 2026. Please someone step up and take it over.

You can click on the link to see the figures for your region, country or city. showyourstripes.info/c/europe/uni...

🦆 My new R package {avilistr} is live on CRAN! 🎉 The first unified global bird taxonomy (11,131 species) is now accessible to #rstats users. I built it this weekend after Cornell Lab's AviList release last week! 🪿 Blog: www.dalyanalytics.com/blog/avilist... 💻 GitHub: github.com/dalyanalytic...

One on my papers was judged the best ECR paper in Medical and Veterinary Entomology in 2024.

Excited to share our new paper in Molecular Ecology! Using whole-genome and morphological data from silvereyes, we explore their evolutionary history and find that water barriers are more effective than continental distances in driving population divergence 🐤🧬 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

I passed my DPhil viva on Monday with minor corrections. Thank you to my examiners @jennycdunn.bsky.social and Sonya Clegg of @egioxford.bsky.social , and my supervisors @sheldonbirds.bsky.social and Adrian Smith of @biology.ox.ac.uk, and everyone else who has contributed...1/5

Can anyone ID this moth seem in deciduous woodland (mostly Sessile Oak) in Somerset today? @mothiduk.bsky.social

🆕 Today, UKHSA and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) have confirmed the first detection of West Nile virus in mosquitoes collected in the UK. There is currently no evidence of wider circulation in birds or mosquitoes, and the risk to the public remains very low. 📰🔗 www.gov.uk/government/n...

A great early record. Has anyone else seen any flat flies (louse flies) or keds yet? Don’t forget to add the records to iRecord, or to get in touch if you need help with IDs.

We are have updated our research into which garden plants attract the most pollinators. Our original research included 5 years of data. We then moved house so this is now 9 years of data over 2 different locations. www.rosybee.com/research-study

New in "Parasitology" today, first detection of Avipoxvirus (APV) in louse/flat flies with additional phenological information supporting their role as probable vectors. We found APV in 50% of the flies tested and a peak in avian pox infections in Dunnocks 3 weeks after the flies peaked. 1/2

One of at least 5 Painted Lady butterflies on a small area of North Hill, near Minehead, Somerset this afternoon.

Can anyone ID this fly from the inside of a bird box on Exmoor this morning? @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

NEW PAPER: Human disturbance and birds: recreational activities do not predict nest box occupancy in great tits, but individuals nesting in disturbed areas are more exploratory and have lower fitness. ➡️ vist.ly/3n43727 #ornithology #birds #animalpersonality #anthropocene #urbanization 🪶

Moths almost outnumbered by Common Cockchafer & Black Sexton Beetles in the MV trap on Exmoor this morning, but good to see Lesser Swallow & Great Prominent & Least Black Arches. #TeamMoth

Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Exmoor. #wildflowerhour

And so it begins, the Exmoor Pied Flycatcher breeding season is underway! @piedflynet.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social

Our new paper is out in "Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment" ‪@esajournals.bsky.social‬ on "Integrating #ClimateChange, #BiologicalInvasions, and infectious wildlife #diseases" Free open access download here: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Previously only recorded once in the UK in 2018, records of Pammene juniperana have been increasing since 2022. Pleased to finally share this paper with @jamesehammond.bsky.social confirming that this lovely moth is breeding here, probably both on both wild and garden Junipers: shorturl.at/E2LrU

Amazing behaviour. Have Barn Owls been recorded eating moths before?

I find it strange adding my name to specimens that are, in some cases, over 100 years old. Today, I finished working through the main UK Hippoboscidae collection at Oxford University Museum of Natural History, checking the IDs of existing specimens & IDing new accessions. @morethanadodo.bsky.social

Amazing difference in bird song at Burgess Field Oxford today compared to yesterday. Lots of Blackcaps, none yesterday. Little change in the numbers of Whitethoats and Willow Warblers but the Chiffchaffs were a lot quieter. Common Gull, single pairs of Oystercatchers and Shelduck on Port Meadow. 🦉

It looks like one of the pair of Pied Wagtails that nest under the solar panels may have been replaced as this female wasn’t ringed.

UK native wild Bluebell and Spanish Bluebell, in two patches of woodland on the edge of Exmoor today. Guess which was nearest to the town. Differences are listed in the Alt text. #wildflowerhour

As well as a new presence here, @egioxford.bsky.social has a refreshed website launched today - please visit if you are curious about who we are, the research we do, our history and more! egioxford.web.ox.ac.uk

Phone photo of a Peacock Butterfly on and old farm gate, Except this afternoon,

Phone photo of a Red Kite just outside Minehead today circling with two Buzzards this evening. Unlike Oxford, they are rare around here. 🦉

At last! A Dark-edged Beefly! Not quite on Exmoor, just over the national park boundary near Minehead. @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

Marsh Marigold or King Cup (Caltha Palustris), Exmoor. #wildflowerhour

My first Peacock Butterfly of 2025, Exmoor today.

Dogs Mercury, on the north east boundary of Exmoor today. #wildflowerhour

A crane fly by the pond on Exmoor last night. Can anyone ID it? @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social

Insight into the top field craft skills employed to see the Mallard x Eider hybrid at Seahouses this morning 😉 #NEbirding #birds

Redpoll safely on its way after being ringed on Exmoor.

Chiffchaffs are back on this part of Exmoor! #UKbirding @btobirds.bsky.social 🦉

Interesting light for taking pictures of the Great White Egret on Port Meadow, Oxford this afternoon 🪶🦉

My first Willow Warbler of the year in Burgess Field NR, Oxford

Great to see some bee-flies appearing, and hoping for more as things warm up over the next few days 🌞 Please don't forget to add your record details to iRecord for #BeeFlyWatch & thanks to all who have already done so 🙏👍 dipterists.org.uk/bee-fly-watch