Being curled up reduces surface area available for heat loss. We all relate, right? 📸 Bob Eade, Hugh Clark FRPS

Despite the rain, just HAD to get out for a while...Warnham LNR always delivers and had the bonus of staying dry in the hides. Here Reed Bunting and two of the many Siskins permanently there. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #warnham #birds #Horsham

Sweet Violet flowers are out at Castle Water. Cut through the rain and gloom and there are bright things. 💜 @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife

Found this rather beautiful Hanging Slime Mould (Badhamia utricularis) in an East Sussex woodland this week. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

Where's Wally? 📷Dunlin © Derek Middleton

Care about nature and want your voice to be heard? Want a place to speak out and make real change with other 16-25 year olds? We hear you. Young voices are vital to our work to protect nature in Sussex and support our wildlife.

Have you spotted any bumblebees? If you plant your garden with nectar-rich flowers that bloom at different times of the year, you're helping the bees. For example, they love winter-flowering hellebores  📸Nigel Symington

Now booking: Badger-watching evenings with celebrated film-maker David Plummer. Small group sizes, very limited tickets - more details on our Eventbrite page.   https://f.mtr.cool/onxxcdkxfz

Learning about hibernation - enough to send you to sleep? Not with our 5-minute interactive guide - brush up on brumation and distinguish your diapause.   

"Lapwing are the Audrey Hepburn of the bird world... beautiful monochrome, a lovely iridescent and that fantastic quiff" says Charlotte Pestell, Nature Recovery Officer. Lapwing are one of the many species to benefit from the Pevensey Levels Wetland Restoration Project.

A bit of winter sunshine for the Youth Rangers at The Deneway, cutting up a fallen Ash tree. Plus - Snowdrops! 📸 Katie Bell

Avian crowds at #RyeHarbourNR this past weekend with Lapwing and Golden Plover, plus Pintail (other ducks available included Wigeon, Shoveler & Teal). @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @sussexornitholo.bsky.social #sussexbirding #ukbirding

Some lovely glimmers in a glorious day of sunshine at Woods Mill. Winter Aconite, Snowdrops & catkins

Wetlands are not only critical habitats for bird life, but they are also buzzing biodiverse havens for many other species, including insects, mammals, plants and amphibians.  📷Common Darter dragonfly © Barry Yates

Beautiful day on #CissburyRing - so nice to see the sun and blue sky after days of rain. Heard a buzzard, a green woodpecker, robins and think I heard a skylark too. @nationaltrust.org.uk @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

Big thanks to our Fledgling Rangers (12 - 16 years), seen here cutting back brambles at Woods Mill. This needs to be done every year, and helps our Rangers so they can focus on other areas.  📷© Katie Bell

We all need 'glimmers' of hope on these grey wet days. This is a lovely one

*Fred Astaire sings* "We're a couple of Gulls ..." 🎶

The Government's onslaught against nature protections continues - this time in the welcome they're giving the Nuclear Regulatory Review recommendations. Read more, and let Ed Miliband know what you think. https://f.mtr.cool/oiixcaznoy

It's been a difficult time for our coast, with many marine pollution incidents in a row. Marine Conservation Officer, Sarah Ward, explains what we are calling for to hold those responsible to account. https://f.mtr.cool/pieuharphy 📷© Jon Santa Cruz

Something to hover over: our February calendar star is this Kestrel by Colin Mitchell.  Download for free for desktop.  https://f.mtr.cool/kxhmyjtrkl

Happy #worldwetlandsday ! A beautiful moment with a moorhen and chick at the Arundel wetlands centre. @wwtworldwide.bsky.social @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

Meet Peter King, Director and the Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust https://f.mtr.cool/ulrkxsopno #WorldWetlandsDay

"I remember seeing Cranes for the first time and my brain not quite being able to compute the scale! How can something so massive be suspended in the sky - and here!?" Team member Charlotte Pestell on news of three Cranes visiting Amberley Wild Brooks.  #WorldWetlandsDay  📷 Crane © Neil Aldridge

You put your left leg in, you put your right leg in... Lovely pic of  paddling juvenile Sanderling on the shore at low tide 📸 Barry Yates

Discover where animals have been through their tracks and signs with this handy info sheet

Happy St Brigid’s Day! Oystercatchers are called ‘Gille-Brìghde’ in Gaelic- ‘Brigid’s servant’ - because they saved her life once

Clodgy, Gawm, Gubber, Pug, Slab, Sleech, Slob, Slough, Slub, Slurry, Smeery, Stoach, Stodge, Stug, Swank, January-butter. Some fantastic Sussex words for mud - very apt at this time of year. How can you tell if a Badger has been? 📸Philip Precey https://f.mtr.cool/rrusuvkkdc

Stunning sky dancing scenes this week from Brighton Pier!🎢 Starlings may murmurate for various reasons: 🐦‍⬛Safety in numbers against predators 🐦‍⬛To communicate and share information 🐦‍⬛Our favourite answer - no-one is really sure! 📷 Starling murmurations © Kai Hilton

Want to learn conservation skills with our brilliant Nature Reserves team? We're seeking our next two trainees - one-year paid placements, including accommodation. 👇 https://f.mtr.cool/mxyktbjcim  #NatureJobs #Sussex #training

Wart-biter Bush Crickets and Avocets. David Beer tells us what the Eastbourne Group got up to in January https://f.mtr.cool/bziszhkbmi

Leysdown Trainee Ranger opportunity with @sussexwildlife.bsky.social 35 hrs per week, one year fixed term (13.04.2026 – 31.03.2027). Location: Southerham Farm, Lewes (with travel to reserves across Sussex) c-js.uk/4q1LRBl

A party of three Common Cranes has been seen in the Arun Valley in recent weeks - if anyone has managed to photograph them please let us know! @sussexornitholo.bsky.social @chriscorrigan3.bsky.social

Watch out vampires - we've got a crack team of stake-holders! Katie Bell, Youth Action Officer, led a leaky dam building collab at Woods Mill nature reserve, between our Youth Rangers and the regular Friday Conservation volunteers. Leaky dams help prevent flooding.

You know that look of utter concentration you get when you've spotted something fantastic on the buffet? Great photo by Phil Winter

The Goosander (red-headed) at Widewater seemed to be battling with weed, much to the amusement of a Herring Gull who decided to join in the game! @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #Lancing #Shoreham #birds

Love it when the local Dunnocks start competing. Our garden seems to be right in the middle between three males. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #dunnock #birds

The hot-pink tentacle-like styles of female Hazel flowers (just 2-3mm long) are out now. Titchy-tiny intense decorations for the sharp-eyed. #UKwildlife #trees #WildflowerHour @bsbibotany.bsky.social @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

From Barry Clough on the Nature Table: 'A comparison of Greenfinches (male & female) & Siskins (male & female).' Some Siskins are residents, others, winter visitors. Female Siskins will build neat nests high-up in Conifer trees using twigs, lichen & feathers.

Hello Bluesky 👋 We’re Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. We care for nature reserves covering nearly 2000 acres, protect rivers, meadows, and woodlands, and help people connect with the wildlife on their doorstep. Follow us for wild facts, nature inspiration, and ways to make a difference 🌿

The Tufty Club! Barry Clough has been Tufted duck spotting. The female has the brown head, the male has the more striking hairdo. They are our most common diving duck nesting on flooded gravel pits, lakes & reservoirs.

So, what did Sussex have to offer this weekend for the #BigGardenBirdwatch? Jaw-dropping avian scenes? One soggy Woodpigeon? A lovely excuse to get outside and do something mindful? Let us know in the comments!🪶 📷Chaffinch © Alan Price

You can't say our Trustees don't get down & dirty! Here's Milly Rudling with the Youth Rangers at Dorothy Stringer School pond learning about maintenance from teacher Rob Sandercock

@hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social Hello!

From Gordon Monument on the Nature Table - Black-tailed Godwits on Pulborough Brooks. The are sociable birds who form monogamous pairs that last years. Every spring, couples arrive at their breeding grounds within 3 days of each other, mate & raise chicks together 💚

Here's a Common Redshank at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve because today's theme for #BirdOfTheDay is #walking but it could be for #wading

A male Northern Lapwing in April for #BirdOfTheDay theme today #poise

Our Youth Rangers teamed up with the Ouse & Adur Rivers Trust for a day tree planting under the Adur Adaptation Project. These trees will help to create new habitat & connectivity for wildlife as well as providing natural flood management benefits

Wouldn’t have been able to identify these shoots if @sussexwildlife.bsky.social hadn’t labelled at the #WoodsMillNR - Black Poplar, which Rackham says can ‘remind us of the splendour of the medieval countryside’. @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Thank you to the volunteers who have responded so quickly to the latest pollution event at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve.  We collected 40 bags of insulating foam pieces from the shipping containers + we also removed 20kg of onions & other produce. 📸 Matt Rich, Dave King, Arthur Sloman and Aimi Rifat