Dipterist Forum are running a new series of online training courses with those nice people @biologicalrecording.co.uk We're kicking off with 'Surveying for Flies' ideal for beginners or if you want to tighten up your field craft skills. More information in the link: dipterists.org.uk/events/surve...

I led a @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social meeting to @yorkswildlife.bsky.social Potteric Carr yesterday. Primarily looking for invertebrates, but it was a bit windy, so not ideal. Still found a few things like this 6-belted Clearwing moth. And a few plants like this Fen Pondweed and Yellow Loosestrife.

Surprised to see a single twayblade in flower in the small front lawn of a terraced house at station road, woodhouse. Then noticed a dog being stroked behind the window by unseen person as I peered at their lawn @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social s

Surprise bee orchids! On Elsecar Inclined plane this morning 😸 @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social @s-yorksbirding.bsky.social

We spent a happy half hour watching this vixen and her cubs yesterday. #FoxOfTheDay

Singing corn bunting this lunchtime Marr, South Yorks. @shefbirdstudy.bsky.social @s-yorksbirding.bsky.social @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social

Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) flowering on the roadside in urban Sheffield.

Wombwell woods - beautiful morning- lots of warblers: willow 1, chiffchaff 2; whitethroat 4; garden warbler 1; blackcap 3. @shefbirdstudy.bsky.social @s-yorksbirding.bsky.social @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social @barnsleybsg.bsky.social

As the nation (quite rightly) celebrates the 100th birthday of Sir David Attenborough, we are commemorating the 200th birthday of Henry Clifton Sorby with two special events this weekend.

Sir David Attenborough… on your 100th birthday, we thank you. For a lifetime dedicated to the natural world, and for sharing its story with such grace and wonder. Generations have fallen in love with nature because of you. Happy birthday, Sir. 🎉

Happy centenary, David! Attenborough’s 100 most spectacular TV moments

Coming soon! Slugs by Peter Williams 📖 A natural and cultural history of the oft-reviled slug, exploring the important role of these exquisite molluscs within ecosystems, their evolution and our complex relationship with them. Learn more and preorder your copy ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/eht94s3p

We've got a field-meeting at Royd Moor Reservoir tomorrow.

Dewberry (Rubus caesius) growing along the Chesterfield Canal at Shireoaks. Thanks to @pshughes.bsky.social for pointing it out during yesterday's @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social field-meeting.

Gall of the week, currantly (ahem) hundreds being recorded on iNaturalist and iRecord, is the currant gall caused by the sexual generation of the cynipid wasp Neuroterus quercusbaccarum on oak, Quercus robur, in both of its typical positions. Photos by Tom Higginbottom.

One of the botanical secrets in my local woods is Mountain Melick, Melica nutans. Putting on a show before the canopy closes. Anston Stones Wood S Yorks @bsbibotany.bsky.social @panspecieslisting.bsky.social @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social

The YNU's latest publication, Yorkshire Plants 2024, is now available in the YNU shop. This new annual report from the YNU’s botany section compliments the joint @bcyorkshire.bsky.social annual Butterfly and Moth Report. You can purchase your copy for £5 here 👇 www.ynu.org.uk/join-the-ynu...

Drooping Star of Bethlehem was nice surprise. #hedgerow #wildflowerhour Harwell Notts @bsbibotany.bsky.social @panspecieslisting.bsky.social @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social

Moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina) growing in the Rivelin Valley, #Sheffield. This tiny plant is also known as Town Hall Clock due to the shape its flowerheads. It was first discovered at this location by Gerry Firkins.

April Field Trip: Orgreave Lakes Sat 25/4/26 7.30am Why not join your fellow members at Orgreave? We will be seeking out returning migrant species including passage waders, Terns, Wagtails, Wheater, Whinchat, Grasshopper Warbler and maybe the odd early Swift Transport & Parking details in comments

Happening next week, our workshop on monitoring the Northern Brown Argus. This under-appreciated butterfly is found in small colonies in northern England and Scotland. We need more people to get involved with egg counts. Book your free place: butterfly-conservation.org/events/north...

Our friend @milneorchid.bsky.social needs your help! He's working on an orchid book for the Collins New Naturalist series, and needs more orchid images. Find out how you could help Richard & maybe get one of your orchid photos (with credit) into this prestigious new book: bsbi.org/blog/2026/04...

1/ Spotted a yellow leg flag on a Curlew? Please share the sighting with us, as this could be one of our headstarted birds. 😀 Report via bit.ly/ReportACurlew #Ornithology #WorldCurlewDay

🎊Happy Birthday to us!🎊 Today we're celebrating 75 years since the #PeakDistrict became the UK's first National Park! 🎂 💚 Let's continue working together to conserve and protect our beautiful park for another 75 years … and beyond!

Went to check out the invasive ant colony in B&Q car park in Worksop, which are also present at the Notcutts Garden Centre at Welbeck, I understand it is Tapinoma magnum. @hymenopterists.org.web.brid.gy @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social @panspecieslisting.bsky.social #ants

Whether it’s a park, sports field or cemetery we want you to tell us what #birds use your local greenspace!🐦🌳 Sign up to our Birds in Greenspaces survey at www.bto.org/greenspaces#birdsJust download the app, select your greenspace and log bird records! #UKBirding #BirdingScotland #BirdingWales

Just had a brief sighting of a Hummingbird Hawk-moth visiting the newly opened flowers of Lilac on Hammerton Road, Sheffield.

A few patches of St George's Mushroom today. They were in fields that were arable until about 20 years ago, so it must be a reasonably good coloniser (as some grassland species are almost exclusively associated with very old grassland). @yorkswildlife.bsky.social

Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis) flowering in High Hazels Park, Sheffield. This distinctive wildflower has several other "folk names", including Lady's-smock and Milk Maids.

It was nice eventually catch up with the Purple Toothwort that grows in the Sheffield Botanical Gardens #wildflowerhour @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

See you all at Darfield Museum later!

Dippers feeding chicks in the nest #yorksirebirding #ornithology vimeo.com/1182168926

Rare Spring Sedge Carex ericetorum starting to show well on Lindrick Common Golf Course, S Yorks @bsbibotany.bsky.social @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social #wildflowerhour

The public launch of ‘The New Birds of the Sheffield Area' will take place at 1pm, Weds 15th April, Weston Park Museum Join editors Richard Hill & David Wood for a 45min talk about the history & current status of our local birdlife Copies available for purchase after presentation #ukbirding

Mezereon, Daphne mezereum and growing among it the rare Rose-moss, Rhodobryum roseum. Millers Dale NR Derbys. March @bsbibotany.bsky.social @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social #wildflowerhour

Do you know someone who has been recording wildlife in the UK for many years? Have they made a real difference to our understanding of nature? If so, please nominate them for NBN Lifetime Achievement Award 2026. bit.ly/NBNawards26n... Deadline 18 May #NBNawards26 Thanks to sponsor @rspb.bsky.social

Have you signed up for our Birds in Greenspaces project yet? ➡️ www.bto.org/greenspaces Starting 1 April, we'd love to know the birds that use your local greenspaces, whether it’s a single species record or complete list, so we can discover their importance for nature and people. 🌳 🪶

Our outline programme of activities for April 2026 to March 2027 is now available on our website at www.sorby.org.uk/events/ Full details of each activity will be given in our monthly newsletter, which is distributed free to members.

My first Peacock butterfly of the year, on Clay Pits Lane near Stocksbridge. #springwatch

📄 A Festival of Amateur Natural History 🔍 Key insights from talks on Henry Seebohm, crayfish conservation, ancient wood pasture, golf course wildlife & more. #NaturalHistory #Naturewriting #NatureGolf #Botanists #Crayfish #Sorby #Woodpasture #Habitats #GardenWildlife @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social

It’s so exciting to see your #SpawnSurvey sightings start to come in! 🗺️ This year's first record was of frog spawn in puddles in Cornwall on 2nd December. Don't forget to add your sightings to the form on our website. 🐸 The map shows sightings submitted up to 10th February 2026.

Getting to grips with iRecord 📱📝 New to iRecord or finding it tricky? Our iRecord 101 course takes you step-by-step from first record to confident user, with tips from recording specialist Keiron Brown. 🌍 🧪 Thu 2 Apr 2026 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/irecord-10... @ukceh.bsky.social

South Yorkshire Natural History Day: a Festival of Amateur Natural History. Saturday, 21 February 2026 at Treeton Miners Welfare, Arundel Street, Treeton, S60 5PW. Attendance is free for all. No need to book in advance. Full details at www.sorby.org.uk/south-yorkshire-natural-history-day-2026

Launch Night tomorrow! Weds 11th Feb 26, 7.15pm LT2 Diamond Building Leavygreave Rd S3 7RD #ukbirding

#NBNawards26 are open! Know someone making a real difference to UK wildlife recording? A dedicated recorder, brilliant verifier, inspiring young naturalist? The NBN Awards celebrate the people and groups helping us better understand the UK’s biodiversity. Nominating is simple. bit.ly/NBNawards26n...

I've just passed the 90,000 records milestone on #iRecord: 54,939 of my own records and 35,061 records uploaded on behalf of colleagues at @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social (with their permission).

It's arrived! Pan-species Listing: How to Become a Super-Naturalist published by @pelagicpublishing. My first book. I am so pleased with it. It looks amazing, all those photos of incredible British species really make this a very colourful book and a celebration of how fantastic our wildlife is.

The latest edition of our monthly newsletter is available now! For details of how to join, please visit www.sorby.org.uk/about-us/membership

🦋 Pan-Species Listing: Become a Super-Naturalist Record all the wildlife you see in the UK and level up your natural history skills. Join @graemelyons.bsky.social Lyons on 13 May to discover the world of PSL. @panspecieslisting.bsky.social 🎟️ FREE! Book now: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1977266072...

Read about me waffling on about being a naturalist here, www.ynu.org.uk/about-the-yn... It's not long. Natural history societies work by members stepping up to help out. Maybe you could offer to lead a walk or become a trustee of one near you. @ynuorg.bsky.social @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social