Nature writers are invariably a delight to talk to & when I asked for top tips on editing, this is what they said... @nicwilson.bsky.social @drmjwarren.bsky.social @amyjanebeer.bsky.social @jensoilandpen.bsky.social @derekniemann.bsky.social shorturl.at/y1IiL Here's me chatting to lovely Nic Wilson.

Next Tuesday 28th Oct 12-1pm, I'll be talking online about my forthcoming book, Wild Pavements: Exploring Britain's Cities with an Urban Naturalist, as part of the interesting eARTh Spotlight programme. & it's a free event.💚 www.ticketsource.co.uk/cccibathspa/...

A richly deserved standing ovation last night at @guildhallschool.bsky.social for Haydon Thorpe's interpretation of @robertmacfarland.bsky.social's prose poem Ness. A luscious recipe of recorded soundscape, #spokenword, song & visuals supported by the amazing Guildhall music students. Just fab.

This will be fab - I just wish I was nearer. 💚

I love a great data visualisation - the sweet spot between art and science - & this is packed with them. Respect is due to @phoebeweston.bsky.social & the other authors www.theguardian.com/environment/... #birdmigration #datavisualisation #birds #ornithology

How exciting! A new book. 😀

I had such a fun time at the Centre for UK Nature @nhm-london.bsky.social yesterday planning a collaboration with the team at NHM's Urban Nature Network for a #WildPavements event in spring 2026. www.the-urban-nature-network.mn.co/ These #urbannature champions are my kind of people. 💚

Absolutely next on my autumn reading list. 💚

Lovely #naturewriters, what would be your top tip for editing #naturewriting. 🙏 @nicwilson.bsky.social @nicolawriting.bsky.social @drmjwarren.bsky.social @jensoilandpen.bsky.social @derekniemann.bsky.social @janevadams.bsky.social @levparikian.bsky.social freelancenaturewriter.com/2025/10/14/e...

Glorious #bloomscrolling

New term special offer. #ThumbnailNature journals for just the price of P&P. Offering ideas to get your #naturewriting underway and inspiring #ThumbnailNature pieces contributed by a cornucopia of talented workshop participants. Visit my shop to grab your copy. freelancenaturewriter.com/shop/

Is attracting wild birds with sound ethical? If you're a birdwatcher of any sort, I'd love to hear your views by 10 Oct in response to this v short survey for a feature... &, as always, very grateful for reposts. forms.gle/3jZyeJw8qngC... #birds #pishing #birdsounds #birdwatching #birding

It was great to catch up with 10 cohorts of MA students & hear some inspiring stories of writing and other successes. 💚

Hurray! Hurray! I'm delighted to see that David's new BBC documentary Wild London will be celebrating #urbannature and will reinforce some of the key messages in my book 'Wild Pavements - Exploring Britain's Cities with an Urban Naturalist', (Flint Books, 5 March 2026).

***It's official - Sep's London Glossy Ibis battle is well underway***. Brilliantly exotic, likely dispersing from breeding sites in W France & Spain & arriving in the Brit Isles in large nos., incl at some of my fave London sites #urbanbirds #30MinuteBirder #LondonBirds @lnhs.bsky.social

Inspired by @concretebotany.bsky.social's fab #bloomscrolling, here are some #pavementplant finds. Undeniably attractive but alarming to see (v invasive in wetlands) Himalayan Balsam growing here on the edge of a dryish pavement in S London. #WildPavements

Lovely photo 💚 #WildPavements #pavementplants #urbanbotany

Fab pics from an orchid aficionado. Jon's 'Orchid Summer' is one of the most compelling (relatively) recent #PlantBased #naturewriting books I've read.

Impressive sea-watching pics from my pal Paul Bowerman @severnsidebirds.bsky.social who I had the pleasure of meeting back in Nov 2022 for a Bird Watching Magazine feature on birding in Bristol.

Delighted to have contributed, albeit in a minor way, to inspiring my birder-acquaintance @markavery.bsky.social to rejoin @bsbibotany.bsky.social. Us urban botanists love a good S American fleabane discussion! #UrbanBotany #WildPavements #PavementPlants

New regulations extend protections across more than 670,000 hectares of peatland, aiming to cut emissions, reduce wildfire risks and restore fragile ecosystems www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/B...

Back in 2020 I set off on a #PlantBased journey... I committed to teaching myself to ID the wild plants I found growing in S London & beyond with the help of the fab @bsbibotany.bsky.social & others. If you are interested, this is how I did it… freelancenaturewriter.com/2021/07/20/t...

This is such great news - I just know I'm going to enjoy Guy's latest book, if that's right word for such a challenging topic.

Absolutely delighted that my book THE LIE OF THE LAND has won the Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing! This week, one of the book’s recommendations, a ban on moorland burning, became a reality. Next, we need a Nature Bill for England… bsky.app/profile/wain...

Co-led a delightful late summer bird walk at #BeddingtonFarmlands in S London yesterday, with inspirational birder Arjun Dutta (photo credit). Genial group of 15. 59 bird spp in 2h. ⭐s - Green, Common & Wood Sandpipers, Greenshank & #Hobby (old pic). This is what it's all about. #UrbanNaturalist

Hey @zoesqwilliams.bsky.social. If you fancy a South London pavement-plant walk, please get in touch. What we find won't all be edible, but I'd anticipate that there'll be many more plants than you'd expect. #urbanplants #pavementplants #WildPavements www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

There's probably a clever way to share X posts on Bluesky, but I don't know what that is... So, in the meantime, here's the sellotape and sticky-back plastic version. So lovely to see this from Book Brunch.

I was in Newcastle back in March at the start of the Kittiwake breeding season & heard how @dant-ne.bsky.social & others at the Tyne Kittiwake Partnership (TKP) are encouraging local businesses and residents to see these elegant gulls in a positive light. 1/3

For the ultimate #UrbanBirding, it's hard to beat nesting Kittiwakes. As well as enjoying these charismatic gulls at their most inland breeding site, I explore where to birdwatch in Newcastle for my latest column in the Sep issue of Bird Watching Mag. #WildPavements

This will be great.

So it's really happening then, & I didn't just imagine it. 😀 1/2 It's been so much fun exploring a different side of cities across Britain. 1/2

I'm so pleased to see that One Garden Against the World by @katebradbury.bsky.social has been longlisted for the @wainwrightprize.bsky.social conservation writing prize. 1/3

I'm chuffed to be collaborating with the S London skating community this Thurs 7 Aug at 6pm as part of a 2-week programme of events in SE22 8LF. #WildPavements #skateboarding #urbannature #urbanbirds #urbanplants #pavementplants

LOVE THIS BOOK. It's brilliant.

In the August issue of Bird Watching Mag, I investigate the impact of us feeding wild birds in urban woodland... and it's not looking good for species like this gorgeous Marsh Tit in S London #30MinuteBirder #WildPavements. A 🧵...

Hi Mark @markavery.bsky.social This month I'm investigating pros & cons of bird reintroductions for my column in Bird Watching Mag. What bird species, if any, would you like to see reintroduced to a particular part of the Brit Isles from elsewhere, as an impetus for improved habitat management?

Hi David @theurbanbirder.bsky.social This month I'm investigating bird reintroductions for my column in BWMag. What bird sp wd you like to see reintroduced to a particular part of the Brit Isles, alongside appropriately improved habitat management, from elsewhere in the Brit Isles. And why?

Hi Dom @dominiccouzens.bsky.social This month I'm investigating bird reintroductions for my column in BWMag. What bird sp wd you like to see reintroduced to a particular part of the Brit Isles, alongside appropriately improved habitat management, from elsewhere in the Brit Isles. And why?

Hi @stephenmossauthor.bsky.social This month I'm investig bird reintros for my column in BWMag. What bird sp wd you like to see reintroduced to a particular part of the Brit Isles (your patch?), alongside appropriately improved habitat management, from elsewhere in the Brit Isles, and why?

Hi @levparikian.bsky.social. This month I'm investig bird reintros for my column in BWMag. What bird sp wd you like to see reintroduced to a particular part of the Brit Isles, alongside appropriately improved habitat management, from elsewhere in the Brit Isles, and why?

‪Hi @howardvaughanbeb.bsky.social This month I'm investig bird reintros for my column in BWMag. What bird sp wd you like to see reintroduced to a particular part of the Brit Isles (your patch?), alongside appropriately improved habitat management, from elsewhere in the Brit Isles, and why?

Really interesting piece. #UrbanNaturalist

Have a guess what this housed temporarily, before they were released into the wild... Look closely & you might be able to spot one.

Only a couple of weeks to go before I teach my one-day @fieldstudiesc.bsky.social workshop - www.field-studies-council.org/courses-and-... on Sat 28 Jun at the fab Juniper Hall in the N Downs, and the good news is that there are few places left. 💚

Research won't necessarily lead you to the best sites for urban nature in a new city, but a local guide might. Highlight in Berlin was the day with Rolf, & the 5 urban #Goshawks we watched establishing their territories… Read in July Bird Watching Mag www.the-urban-naturalist.com #WildPavements

Is feeding #urbanmammals really a good idea? This begging red squirrel in Berlin’s Tiergarten has to be less alert to predators.

Great to see my urban birding acquaintance Tomos Brangwyn featured in this @pgreenfielduk.bsky.social news story. Tomos is a fantastic urban nature champion #WildPavements www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Delighted to see that Hannah's book has been commissioned, after watching it take shape while she was an MA nature writing student. She's a great writer and I'd anticipate it being truly inspirational. @chiffchat.bsky.social @bathspauni.bsky.social

Had a great time last night in the company of #urbanbotany enthusiasts at Trevor Dines' book launch in this fab venue on Pall Mall. I'm looking forward to curling up with my copy. & makes a nice change to be glammed up 💚@chiffchat.bsky.social #WildPavements

My 50th 30-minute birder column was published in BirdWatchingMag Jun 25, & still have oodles more things to write about. Here, what started as a consideration of London as a coastal city became a musing on the different and mostly entertaining ways birders interact on social media. #WildPavements