Anacamptis sancta - Holy Orchid, Lesvos earlier this month. An orchid with a restricted East Mediterranean disturbution.

Lockwood Beck Reservoir 18.00: 2 Spotted Flycatchers in pine trees by outflow Also Siskins. Cuckoo here and at Scaling Dam. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

Wykeham Raptor Viewpoint 9-1: Red Kite, a few Ravens, Siskins, Lesser Whitethroat and a Nightjar churring unseen but repeatedly from the forest edge. No Honey Buzzard though one reported earlier. Redpoll, Tree Pipit and Crossbill nearby. @nybirdnews.bsky.social

80% of Reform's funding comes from people who avoid tax by hiding money offshore. Our idea of true patriotism is to hoard money while contributing nothing towards public services. Just ask Richard Tice.

Amazing how one small section of a huge beach is set aside for wildlife and some dog owners still won't behave responsibly. @teesbirds.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Cowpen Marsh from Holme Fleet 20:00 drake Garganey, Ruddy Shelduck, Egyptian Goose, Little Ringed Plover, 23 Common Terns. @teesbirds.bsky.social

This is a great nature restoration project in Arkengarthdale, North Yorkshire.

Nightjar wing-clapping over main track at the Osmotherley site 21:00. Also Cuckoo, song-flighting Redpolls, Stonechat, Red Grouse. Please keep to main ride if visiting this site because little suitable habitat remains for Nightjars. @nybirdnews.bsky.social @teesbirds.bsky.social

Olive groves near Lisvori, Lesvos, earlier this month. Birds included Masked Shrike, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Olive-tree Warbler, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler and Black-headed Bunting.

More #NoMowMay lawn. Really pleased with results this year. Management mimics a traditional hay meadow - mown closely from July till Easter to imitate grazing. Many years of collecting the arisings has helped deplete soil nutrients (and feed the compost bin), which promotes plant diversity.

New research by the University of Leeds and the RSPB reveals that moorland burning exposes millions to unsafe air pollution. Find out more: environment.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/news... @universityofleeds.bsky.social

Brackish fen at Greatham Salterns (North Tees): Common Reed with Sea Club-rush under-storey over a deep moss carpet with ankle-deep water. Rich invertebrate habitat with 2 Nationally Scarce water beetles, Haliplus apicalis & Enochrus halophilus, the latter at the N limit of its British range.

Sweetcorn planted into the vegetable boxes today. At least there's a bit of moisture in the soil this year. Winter onions doing well, both here and in the garden. #Allotment

We take high quality identification literature for granted for most biota in the UK, thanks to the output of @fieldstudiesc.bsky.social, @royentsoc.bsky.social & others. In SE Europe, there are reliable guides for only a few insect orders and ID work becomes much more challenging.

Cowpen Marsh tea time: Marsh Harrier, Avocet, Little Ringed Plover, Egyptian Goose, Yellow Wagtail, Cetti's Warbler. Good to see several well-grown Lapwing chicks. Single Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwit on tidal pool from car park viewing screen. @teesbirds.bsky.social

Red-rumped Swallow nest under a bridge and Western Rock Nuthatch nest on a rock outcrop, Lesvos. Both photographed from a respectful distance! Old Rock Nuthatch nests are sometimes occupied by Rock Sparrows.

Balkan Marbled White, Lesvos.

My #NoMowMay lawn looking colourful. Ribwort became excessively dominant last year but Bulbous Buttercup has made a welcome return to its former abundance, intermingled with Daisy and Red Clover.

Two of the more obvious aquatic species on Lesvos, whose English names highlight the island's location at a biogeographical crossroads: Levant Water Frog and Balkan Terrapin. Both plentiful in low lying areas.

There may have been some birds on Lesvos too...

I've been scoping a survey of water beetles and bugs on Lesvos (Greece), an island rich in wetland habitats but whose aquatic invertebrate fauna remains poorly-recorded, with exception of dragonflies. Habitats inc fresh, brackish & saline; seasonal/permanent; upland/lowland; running/still waters.

South Gare 14.00: Great Northern Diver off Bomb Hole. Sandwich Terns, Kittiwakes, Wheatear. @teesbirds.bsky.social, @nybirdnews.bsky.social

Bare, damp peat supports a range of rare invertebrates but is under-valued in nature reserve management plans. These intermittently waterlogged hollows on lowland heath have produced the extremely rare water beetle Helophorus tuberculatus in past - couldn't re-find it but habitat remains suitable.

Substation flash, 15.15: 7 Black-tailed Godwits, single Greenshank, Egyptian Goose, Marsh Harrier, Wheatear @teesbirds.bsky.social

The drake Garganey on Back Saltholme visible from PetroPlus, looking towards Port Clarence, 20.00. 2 Pinkfeet still at the back of substation flash, Wheatear there too. @teesbirds.bsky.social

South Gare 14:00 GrasshopperWarbler reeling from top of isolated elder bush in dunes opp Bomb Hole; 3 Whimbrel over; Little Tern @teesbirds.bsky.social

Hartlepool Headland 8.30-10.00. Highlight 1 Little Gull among Kittiwakes on sea. 28 Guillemot/auk sp., 23 Sandwich Terns, 8 Eider, 4 Red-throated Divers, 4 Gannets, single GC Grebe and Goosander. HarbourPorpoise. @teesbirds.bsky.social

👉Funded by billionaires 👉Own TV channel 👉Saturation media coverage 👉Only 70 people attend heavily-promoted 'national' protest, "most of whom were press" 🤣🤣🤣 From The Standard :

Rare mid-18th century herbarium (with pre-Linnean names) goes on display at Burton Constable Hall, East Yorks. www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/2605016...

Warblers galore at Coatham Wood, Long Newton, including several singing Garden Warblers and 2 Lesser Whitethroats. Also plenty of Redpolls song-flighting. @teesbirds.bsky.social @durhambirdclub.bsky.social

This is incredibly alarming: Epsom rioters were egged on by disinformation amplified by Elon Musk's X and dog-whistle posts from r/w politicians, TV presenters and influencers - over a crime that never occurred. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Billingham Beck Valley 18.00: Water Rail, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Ring-necked Parakeet. Cowpen Marsh 19.00: 3 Pinkfeet (from substation), 3 Egyptian Geese, LRP, Marsh Harrier, Cetti's Warbler (Holme Fleet) @teesbirds.bsky.social

Don't smirk...

The big divide in Britain today is between working people and the privately educated, rich, greedy, tax-dodging, selfish, grifting gobshites who try to manipulate working people by pretending to give a shit about them.

Swaledale PM. Surrender Bridge: Ring Ouzel, Wheatear, Stonechat, Grey Wagtail, Common Sandpiper. By Swale at Low Oxque: Pied Flycatcher, several Redstarts, Garden Warbler. @nybirdnews.bsky.social

South Gare 8.30-10: Whitethroat, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Swallow in v small numbers; fly-through Yellow Wagtail and Tree Pipit; Whimbrel heard. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

This guy Bembridge is deputy editor of Country Squire Magazine, which had to pay Chris Packham £90k plus costs for libel/defamation for untrue attacks/harassment. Worth joining the dots to see how the hard right is active in all spheres: urban, rural, health, countryside, wildlife. Sociopaths.

Glorious morning in Upper Teesdale. Goosander, Common Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail, Redstart along the river. Half a dozen Black Grouse on lower slopes at Langdon Beck. @teesbirds.bsky.social

Interesting water beetles can be found in unexpected places. This appears to be 1st Vice-county 66 (Durham) record for Hydrobius rottenbergii, from Port Clarence Nature Garden pond. A recent 'split' from H. fuscipes, its ecology is poorly understood as yet but rare in north. @teesbirds.bsky.social

The Lower Derwent Valley is one of England's great wetlands, though still relatively little known. Just got my copy of this superb, comprehensive new book on its bird life. Artwork & photos alone make it worth the modest £25 (540 pages, hardback). Details from [email protected]

Moorland Pond-skater (Gerris costae), one of 9 pond-skaters resident in Britain. This one is frequent in peaty ditches on the North York Moors. It is recognisable by its relatively large size and the brownish mark on its thorax.

A few Green Hairstreaks along the path at Hutton Moor this afternoon but mostly mile after mile of charcoal. Incredibly, this is in a National Park, Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Grand morning at Newton-under-Roseberry with at least 3 singing Redstarts, Tree Pipits, Cuckoo heard, Stonechat, plenty of common woodland birds too. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

The Red List (Vulnerable) scavenger water beetle Hydrochus brevis still present at this heathland pond in the Vale of York, where it's been known since 1949. This species occurs widely as a subfossil in late-glacial to early medieval deposits but is now confined to a small number of ancient fens.

Redcar's name refers to reed carr, hrēod kjarr, the expansive fen which lay between the Tees estuary and the coast. Coatham Marsh is the last remnant of this wetland and while historical accounts are a little shaky, may have been the scene of one of the final revolts against Norman rule. 🧵

Bydales, Marske 15.00-15.30: 2 Red-throated Divers; 7 Sandwich Terns; small numbers of Gannets, Fulmars, Kittiwakes passing; small movement of hirundines north inc a few House Martins. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

This East Riding fen has a distinct structure: open reed cover with an understorey of Purple Small-reed and small patches of moss and herbs in ankle-deep water. It's produced an impressive list of rare invertebrates in past but was disappointing today, perhaps reflecting last year's v dry spring.

“One monthly flea treatment for a large dog contains enough imidacloprid to kill 25 million bees” - & whenever a treated dog has a dip it pollutes the river So it’s great news for nature that the Govt is planning to ban over-the-counter flea treatments: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Saltholme Pools PM: 4 Ruff, 2 LRP, resident White-fronted Goose, Sedge Warbler. Substation Flash: 15 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Egyptian Geese. Dorman's Pool: Marsh Harrier, Cetti's Warbler. @teesbirds.bsky.social

Iberian Chiffchaff still singing and showing well at Hardwick Park, 11.15. West end of the Serpentine River (walk west from car park). @teesbirds.bsky.social