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

Our Head of Surveys @debalmer.bsky.social completed her third Winter Bird Survey visit to one of her squares in Thetford Forest. She has surveyed this square for @bbs-birds.bsky.social since 1994! An incredible effort! You can sign up for the Winter Bird Survey here ➡️ www.bto.org/winbs #UKBirding

Due to icy roads and paths this morning we have decided to change the Sorby Fungus Group Winter Wander and Planning meeting to an ONLINE meeting at 10.30am. We have CANCELLED the plan to meet at Graves Park.

Sunday book review: Pan-species Listing by @graemelyons.bsky.social Publisher: @pelagic.bsky.social Review: markavery.info/2026/01/04/s... "Hardly anyone has the knowledge to write this book & even fewer could write it so well!"

Happy Christmas from NatureBureau - our office is now closed til 5 January but you can still pre-order our #FliesofBritainandIreland - due late Jan/early Feb 2026. Pre-order now bit.ly/4dqQI8Z @gailashton.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @wildlifekate.bsky.social

The Spawn Survey is open until May 2026, and you can add your sightings here: freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/advice-resou...

Not long now until our 15th #NewYearPlantHunt! From 1 - 4 January, let's head out and see how many wild or naturalised plants we can find in bloom. Resources to help us: bsbi.org/take-part/ac... The data we collect will deepen our understanding of how our plants are responding to a changing climate.

“Lichens of Britain & Ireland” by Rebecca Yahr and Frances Stoakley is finally available for purchase. This has been a much needed ID guide for beginners to intermediates and the publication is finally here!! www.bloomsbury.com/uk/lichens-o... #bloomsbury #lichens

I've recorded wildlife for many years, starting with pen and paper, but in the last several years mostly recording on apps. (I still use paper to tally my moth trap findings). I can't imagine being bothered to write down 8,000 records in a year before apps. It surely has made a big impact!

The newly-published 2024 Derbyshire Bird Report should have reached you already, if you are a DOS member Non-members can buy a copy, prices £10.30 inc p&p: the perfect thing for some post-turkey reading: see the order form at www.derbyshireos.org.uk/order24.php #DerbyshireBirds

The new @bsbibotany.bsky.social handbook on roses arrived today. I'm looking forward to trying to find a few species next year. Hopefully with some @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social and @ynuorg.bsky.social friends.

Every so often I venture south of the border, and Day 11 of my botanical #adventcalendar is the amazing Large-flowered Butterwort - native to SW Ireland, but occasionally introduced in England, including this population in Edale Like @bsbibotany.bsky.social, I couldn't stop grinning! #wildflowerhour

Fascinating insights from Professor John Rodwell, giving a us “A botanist’s view from South Yorkshire at the #BIBConf25. Including early influences such as his professor Irene Manton