Happy new (WeBS) year! 🥳 Today's Core Count is the first count of the 2026/27 WeBS year, which runs from July - June. So let's get out and celebrate with our waterbirds! RSPB Science JNCC

I'm new to the pseudoscorpion game, but I think this is Lamprochernes savignyi - no obvious eyes and a trichobothrium centrally placed on the 4th tarsus (& just visible in second photo). From a compost heap in Faversham today. #KentNature

Phyllonorycter esperella mines are now appearing on Hornbeam. They make white upper surface blotches which can bend the leaf upwards as they grow and contract. #norfolkmoths

Today is the 206th birthday of naturalist Gilbert White (1720-1793). But who was he and why is he important? For more in-depth knowledge than we can fit here, see buff.ly/ykmOf4V or visit buff.ly/O0qUNt7. Happy birthday, Gilbert! #otd

Oak Longhorn Moth (Carcina quercana), or Long-horned Flat Body in old money. A beautiful micro moth with very long antennae seen on an Oak tree this evening. It was the cover star of one of the versions of Richard Lewington-illustrated Field Guide to the Micro Moths of Britain & Ireland.

A rather nice tephritid fly, Trupanea stellata. Although I found this one resting on a rose, it is associated with Ragwort, of which there was plenty nearby.

This evening I went for a walk and managed to find a Gorse Lacebug (Dictyonota strichnocera), one of my summer target species along with Broom Lacebug D. fuliginosa (which I also looked for but didn't find).

A Salix along Lakenham Way had some completely stripped branches, the result of some rather hungry sawfly larvae. Each year I have to remind myself which of the various similar green, yellow and spotty larvae feed on what plant, but I think these ones are Euura pavida.

It seems to be a good year for Firebug, Pyrrhocoris apterus, with quite a few sightings around Norwich this month. These ones near the inner ring road yesterday were my first casual find of them, having visited the known colony at Rosary Cemetery in the past. Mating and nymphs seen below Tilia.

You can now pre-order my new hr-long pre-recorded w'shops on neuroscientifically-proven ways to improve your own mental health via: 🌿contact with nature 🧵creative activity 🗝️collecting 🧠a toolbox of simple activities to help your brain on difficult days Each vid is just £10 workshops.emmamitchell.uk

Highlight of my Norwich wanderings this week has been the plant bug Brachynotocoris puncticornis (www.naturespot.org/species/brac...) found on Ash. I didn't recognise it in the field - it is a relatively new species to the UK, although not new to Norfolk as @applewildlife.bsky.social has seen it.

Moth Species per Hectad in Norfolk map. Fun fact: Norfolk officially covers (or partially covers) 74 Hectads, however moths have only ever been recorded in 70 Hectads. There are 4 unrecorded tiny bits of land on the border! (VC27 and VC28 only, aggregates not included) #norfolkmoths

A tiny but very distinctive hoverfly Pelecocera tricincta. It uses sensory hairs on its enlarged 3rd antennal segment to detect the partially subterranean Yellow False Truffle Rhizopogon luteolus in which its larvae develop. Holt Heath. Dorset today.

The hedgerows and grassy banks (of East Anglia at least) are full of Labyrinth Spider webs at present. Normally the spiders dart back in to their retreats if they see you, but occasionally you may spot a couple mating and they're easier to photopgraph.

Argiope bruennichi and Marpissa muscosa seen at Cavenham Heath yesterday. @britishspiders.bsky.social

An incredible spectacle above Rodden Hive this morning. 10's of millions of Bug nymphs pouring along the ground, I'm not exaggerating the numbers either, I've never seen anything like it. Right across the field and paths. I really don't know what species they are though! @britishbugs.bsky.social

Guess what? Making environmental decisions in the real world is complicated - some reading. markavery.info/2026/07/15/y... I'll come back to this.

Bay Sucker Psyllid (Trioza alacris) found on a Bay Tree in Aylsham. @norfolknats.bsky.social

Whitlingham Marshes today, proper swamp vegetation and very challenging to get around. I did see this Reed Dagger caterpillar, which is a new species for me.

A bit of a late response, but our CMR @neilsmothman.bsky.social kindly did a chart for total number of accepted species per Hectad for Suffolk. Hopefully he won’t mind me sharing. #teammoth I wonder which Hectad in the UK has the most recorded species? 🤔

⏰ Today was the final deadline for abstract submissions, but we're offering more time for you to send in your papers! Get your talks, posters and flash talks submitted by 17:00 (BST), 17 July to be part of the programme! Submit your abstract 🔽 buff.ly/fsoVdvp

Very dry at the moment but Sandy Stiltballs (Battarrea phalloides) don't mind. Some lovely fresh fruitbodies on today's South Norfolk bike ride, including a new site found by @vannabartlett.bsky.social. #Fungi #FungiFriends

Slightly late for #WildFlowerHour, but some of the plants seen on a guided walk at Blakeney Point for the North Norfolk NWT group this weekend - Yellow-horned Sea Poppy, Sea Pea, Rock Sea-lavender and Sea Kale.

The heat has addled my brain to the extent that I have started recording Thrips. Aeolothrips melaleucus. #Insects #Entomology #VC55 #Thysanoptera

A great day for pseudoscorpions yesterday. Took advantage of cooler weather & cycled 45 miles with @jeremybartlett.bsky.social taking in 4 churches. Chthonius ischnocheles at all 4 in churchyard. Inside 3, Cheiridium museorum, inc live individuals (often find dead ones). A good days recording.

And so it begins... A young Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus. On a 100 year old apple tree on our allotment site. www.jeremybartlett.co.uk/2024/09/25/s... #Fungi #FungiFriends

I think this is Long-bracted Sedge, Carex extensa, at Salthouse, but it seems quite a scarce one so I'd welcome a second opinion @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social

A strandline find by the group on the walk back along Blakeney Point, a pipefish - I think Greater Pipefish, Syngnathus acus.

Whilst on Blakeney Point I kept an eye out for Whelk-shell Jumpers, Pseudeuophrys obsoleta. Most whelk shells I found had been smashed up by the wave action, but Richard & Luke on the British Spider Identification Facebook Page think that this roaming individual is indeed P. obsoleta.

Runner-up for my favourite invertebrate of the day were these Agramma laeta, a member of the Tingidae found on a patch of sedge at Salthouse today.

One of the highlights of a trip to North Norfolk today, the weevil Lixus scabricollis, found on the foodplant Sea Beet. This species is established further south in England but was first recorded in Norfolk in 2022.

...and worthy of it's very own post, a very beautiful, pristine Small Emerald. @linnetincley.bsky.social #cleymothobs #norfolkmoths #teammoth

The bizarre Longleaf Falcaria vulgaris seen today in a north Norfolk farmyard.

I caught up with a few old friends on one of my local heaths on Purbeck this afternoon: the hulking Hornet Robberfly, the exquisite Mottled Bee-fly, & the absolute unit that is the Heath Tiger Beetle.

@norwichbirder.bsky.social @norfolknats.bsky.social I watched this podalonia hirsuta sand wasp drag a hummingbird hawk moth caterpillar up a dune face yesterday. Once it got on level ground, it was quite the jockey.

Sightings update : A couple of reports of Clouded Yellow around the county, Large Tortoiseshell & Purple Emperor seen at Beeston Common and a new location for Small Blue at the Willows Nature Reserve near Downham Market. #savebutterflies

My latest blog post: Bastard-toadflax, Thesium humifusum. www.jeremybartlett.co.uk/2026/07/10/b...

An interesting small fly found on my window at work today. I think its Melanophora roralis (Dark-winged Woodlouse-fly)

As some of you may know, I run The Plankton Project, and I'm excited to announce that I'm ready to launch the microscopy-based citizen science project (UK)I've been talking about all year! I'm holding a Zoom meeting on 6 August at 6pm if any of you would like to find out more #citizenscience 🦑🧪

There seems to be some tree-pruning going on around Norwich at the moment. In Waterloo Park this am I noticed some ant activity on a newly-visible Beech trunk. I suspected aphids, but they were hard to find. Fortunately I did find a few, confirming they were immature Lachnus pallipes. #NorwichAphids

It’s a bit too hot for beer, but fortunately the local Spar has £1 cans of Peregrine cider, which is better than I expected #birdsandcider

In stock now! 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐢 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞: 𝐊𝐞𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐲𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐄: £𝟔𝟎 (RRP £80) tr.ee/wZGxvIxj_b #fungibooks #newfungibooks #FungiOfTemperateEurope #basidiomycetes #mushrooms #fungiofeurope

Another warm day hunting rare brambles in north Norfolk. Rubus glareosus was new to me today. A very characterful species with distant crinkled petals, lax inflorescences and leafy sepals.

Latest issue of Field Mycology is out: ▶️ fieldmycology.org/index.php/jo... A fine array of fascinating funguses. "Not enough toadstools", according to one reviewer. I say, let all the fungi have their turn! (Happy to receive submissions of toadstool-based articles for next issue.)

This morning, keeping to shade as much as possible, @vannabartlett.bsky.social & I went to see Oak Ladybird (Scymnus auritus). Adult beetles & larvae, feeding on Oak Leaf Phylloxera (Phylloxera glabra) on an oak tree. Thanks to @norwichbirder.bsky.social for the tip-off. Vanna's pics. #Ladybirds

While exploring John Clare Countryside @beardybirder.bsky.social and I found feeding signs of Pseudoprotapion astragali, a local species monophagous on Wild Liquorice. Eventually we found several of the tiny (c. 2mm) shiny blue-green weevils - not easy to photograph! #invertebrates #beetles

Just arrived from @summerfieldbooks.com: "Fungi of Temperate Europe: Keys to the Basidiomycotes." Looks good but we now need some rain, so I can try it out. (I may have a long wait...) #MycoBookClub #Fungi #FungiFriends

A Large Marsh Horsefly (Tabanus autumnalis) just rescued from our conservatory this evening. The second I’ve seen there in a week. Very large and a fearsome proboscis! @uk-soldierflies.bsky.social @kitenet.bsky.social

A very pleasing find after work in Norwich today, & very similar to the scene found elsewhere by @andrew-jewels.bsky.social recently. I noticed a small Oak pocked with yellow, which indicates Phylloxera glabra presence. Underneath were many larva and one adult Oak Scymnus ladybird, Scymnus auritus.

We seem to have a bit of an arrival of 7-spot Ladybirds on Kessingland beach this afternoon. Millions!