BBC News - Farage facing new questions over home purchase funding www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... This massive scandal should be near the top of the BBC's news page, not buried ⅔ of the way down. I support the BBC but they do make it difficult.

The nationally rare tiny soldier beetle Cerapheles terminatus at Oulton Marshes today. May even be a first for Suffolk

Myriostoma coliforme Mixed Celtis occidentalis/Robinia pseudoacacia forest on sandy soil 18/05/2024 N Serbia

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... Evil. Another reason why this government is unpopular.

Deregulation mania UK Govt to weaken ring-fencing of retail from speculative banking, introduced after the 2007-08 crash. Nothing learnt. Claims this will release capital for economic growth - more speculation. Danger of shadow banking, AI bubble looms Who bears the cost of bailouts?

"Those promoting the rush for hyperscale AI datacentres seem to be living in a parallel reality where the last 50 years of climate science hasn’t happened, and where we aren’t already experiencing the signs of climate breakdown.”

This week's Botany in Scotland blog post by John Grace. botsocscot.wordpress.com/2026/05/17/p...

Meanwhile, down by the #WeedyPond the Wren is perhaps a little too noisy at bathtime and attracts the attention of an animal who is weasily recognised! A lucky escape.... @alan678.bsky.social @ianparsons.bsky.social @markavery.bsky.social #BirdofDay #Ruffled #Wrens #Weasels

I'll call this "Tachina fera" (but there are now a couple of very similar species in Britain so I might be wrong. See tachinidae.org.uk/blog/disting...) A lovely fly (unless you're one of the insects the larvae parasitise). In woods at Holt Country Park, Norfolk, today. #Diptera #UKWildlife

I had the great honour to act as a landing pad for this magnificent beast this afternoon. Rhagium bifasciatum, the Two-banded Longhorn Beetle #ukwildlife

Deceiver, Laccaria laccata. In the valley mire at Holt Lowes, North Norfolk today. An extremely common find in autumn but a rare treat in a droughty May. #Fungi #FungiFriends

Some #tinyplants in the valley mire at Holt Lowes, North Norfolk. Tormentil (Potentilla erecta) in flower, with the leaves of other plants including a Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia). #WildFlowerHour

A late frost. Several recent cold nights have caught out allotment holders in Norwich and potato tops have been browned and courgette plants crisped. Even this Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) on Holt Lowes in North Norfolk was frosted but there are more recent green shoots too.

Marsh Valerian, Valeriana dioica. Flowering at about an inch in height in a cattle grazed part of the valley mire at Holt Lowes, Norfolk. #WildFlowerHour #tinyplants

Germander Speedwell, Veronica chamaedrys. www.jeremybartlett.co.uk/2022/06/18/g... #WildFlowerHour #tinyplants

Common Malachite Beetle, Malachius bipustulatus. On an Oxeye Daisy on the allotment this afternoon. www.naturespot.org/species/comm... #Beetles #UKWildlife #Coleoptera #Allotments

The woad flowers are in full bloom in our Iron Age enclosure! ✨ Did you know that woad is a natural source of indigo dye? It has been used for several thousand years throughout Europe and the Middle East - not only to dye textiles, but also as body paint.

Frying the planet for Datacentres using 6% of electricity supply in UK and US, research says Industry body says energy consumption driven by AI up 15% globally in two years as it warns of societal backlash www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Assumed Marpissa radiata from Boughton Fen this evening. Found by looking for darkened areas in reed seed heads. Rushed home to photograph her before bringing her back. Saw the Bittern too!

A very good afternoon to the absolute hero who organised and parked this beauty in the middle of little Tommy’s far-right hate march. ❤️

We met a giant at Holme Fen! The largest lowland birch woodland hosting our largest birch sawfly!

The Muntjac have eaten everything on our allotment site so are now shopping at Marks and Spencer. BBC News - Muntjac deer gets stuck on Norwich M&S escalator - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

New blog out on why #Dandelions #Taraxacum officinale are such a brilliant #wildflower lizzieharper.co.uk/2026/03/dand... Excellent for pollinators, adaptable, gorgeous, & fabulous subjects for #sciart and #botanicalillustration; with over 235 species in the UK along (oh yes) what's not to love?

➡️What is the Nakba? In 1948, Israel declared itself a state. In the process, over 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed – displaced from violence inflicted by militias, which later became the Israeli military.

Podosphaera parietariae, a powdery mildew on Pellitory-of-the-wall (Parietaria judaica), found yesterday in Norwich near to the cathedral. Even though the host plant is common around the city I've only seen this mildew on one stretch of it (and there are only 3 locations on the county database).

Pop Goes the Water Bear: I've written a post about Sorochytrium milnesiophthora - a chytrid fungus that infects tardigrades, and how their water bear-slaying might actually be helping other microscopic animals that live on the surface of lichens. 🧪 dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2026/05/soro...

Irises & St. Stephen's Church, #Norwich yesterday.

Nuclear is already too late and too costly for the climate and energy crises. Every pound invested in nuclear is a pound not invested in renewables, energy efficiency, storage and grid resilience - investments that would provide a much bigger pay-off. bennettinstitutesussex.org/stories/nucl...

Reed Mat Disco, Trichobelonium kneiffii. On a dead stem of Common Reed, Phragmites australis. Lily Broad, Rollesby, on Sunday's Norfolk Fungus Study Group foray. #Fungi #FungiFriends

Each year nuclear adds only as much net global power capacity as renewables add every two days. The long-standing argument that renewables lack reliability no longer holds. Today, renewables can deliver reliable, round‑the‑clock power. www.irena.org/News/pressre...

A male Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum), on flowers of Bistort (Bistorta officinalis). In the back garden yesterday evening. #Bumblebees #Bees #UKWildlife

Blumeria bulbigera, a powdery mildew, on Soft Brome, Bromus hordeaceus. Christchurch Road, Norwich. Seen on the way home from the shops yesterday. #Fungi #FungiFriends

Choosing a favourite butterfly is difficult, as I like all of them. I voted for the Orange Tip - a cheery sign of spring and a regular visitor to our garden and its Garlic Mustard plants.

🔴 Keir Starmer promised to crackdown on "Slapps" - abusive libel cases to silence journalists and critics Then Labour quietly dropped it We can reveal why: a three-year lobbying blitz by libel lawyers who've acted for Russian oligarchs, Epstein + more democracyforsale.substack.com/p/how-lawyer...

Start the day with a sting! Small Nettle, Urtica urens. At the Colman Road shops in Norwich this morning. The first plant is just starting to flower, so has asked to be included in #WildFlowerHour.

Lonicera periclymenum L., Honeysuckle, Woodbine, invert associates Strongly night-scented scrambler & weaver thru woods and hedgerow, supports at least 79 spp. of invert, which 64 are Lepidoptera; 52 of them macromoths. Thrushes, Bullfinches, & warblers eat the berries. 📷 Johan Carl Krauss

A splash of yellow on West Pottergate, Norwich, from a variety of plants including Smooth Sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus), Hedge Mustard (Sisymbrium officinale) and one of the wintercresses (Barbarea sp.) #WildFlowerHour

Nettle-leaved Figwort, Scrophularia peregrina. By the River Wensum in Norwich. Thanks to @norwichbirder.bsky.social for telling me about it.

Ivy Broomrape, Orobanche hederae. In a known location just off Barrack Street in Norwich. #WildFlowerHour

Wes Streeting, the member for Palantir North.

Caraway, Carum carvi, with a riverside view, in Norwich today. Thanks to @norwichbirder.bsky.social for letting me know about it.

Speedwells: Online ID resources. A pictorial guide by Moira O'Donnell thewildflowersociety.org.uk/wp-content/u... A crib produced by James Common commonbynature.com/wp-content/u... An article from the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland bsbi.org/media/pages/...

"If Labour thinks Wes Streeting is the answer, they obviously don’t know the question the country is asking." @zackpolanski.bsky.social responds to Health Secretary Wes Streeting's resignation.

This was was a fast turnaround. Like modern British PMs ... here's a musical parody view of #Starmer's and #Labour's crisis through the lens of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "The Farmer and the Cowman" (Oklahoma!) 🎶 youtu.be/WbT2yTxOMvY

We've lost count of the number of times someone has told us that "First Past the Post is not perfect, but at least it leads to stable governments." How is that going?

Viper's Bugloss, Echium vulgare. This plant is a garden escape - an offspring of plants in our front garden. www.jeremybartlett.co.uk/2018/07/11/v...