Our government is hopeless, gutless, stupid, or maybe all three. Bottom trawling to continue in English protected waters, government rules www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A lovely encounter with a New Zealand Fantail on Banks Peninsula. Very cute.

Alison got first prize for her poster on Bermuda's invader-dominated communities at EMAPI 2025. Well done! @bda-biodiversity.bsky.social

And that's me done. Can relax and enjoy the rest of the EMAPi 2025 conference now!

It's 23:40 on bank holiday Monday, and I think I just finished a grant proposal 😬😴

Climate models since the 1970s nailed it—most predicted global warming almost exactly as it happened.

My first ever crop of onions, and they look great! About 50 or so, still another 17 in the ground. Now, for curing.

What happens to an abandoned golf course.

Found a young dead dunnock in my garden. No doubt the work of the neighbour's cat. Such a waste.

In the Royal Albert Hall for an exciting Prom! Including Holst's 'The Planets' (a favourite in our house), and Star Wars. What a combo!

Missed #wildflowerhour yet again! But, the flowers were too lovely at the Keen of Hamar, #Unst ( #Shetland ), not to share. This site is special for its barren, rocky landscape of weathered, rare serpentine rock. We were lucky to see a late-flowering 'Shetland mouse-ear' (endemic).

On the way home, we stopped at Birnam to say 'hello' to the ancient oak. We were treated to two osprey, hunting on the Tay over Dunkeld bridge.

Back on the ferry to Britain. Had a wonderful 2 weeks in Orkney and Shetland. Yesterday's clifftop walk on Muckle Roe was a highlight!

Had a fantastic day on stunning Unst: Hermaness NNR was breathtaking! Loving Shetland.

Late again to the #wildflowerhour party, but the flowers on display in Orkney deserve a post ot two. Meadow pea and marsh woundwort on Rousay:

About to board the ferry to Shetland, after an adventurous week in Orkney. Empty, white sandy beaches on Egilsay and Sanday, and impressive neolithic cairns on Rousay (Midhowe) and Sanday (Quoyness).

A mad week. Learned a pcr protocol to id male and female red campion flowers in Durham; various ACCE+ meetings: Impatiens soil sampling in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿; aquatic status of 889 plant spp assigned; commented on 3 manuscripts; meetings with the lab. Still have a grant proposal to finish, but off to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 for a rest.

I love this city

A mad week of fieldwork with Rain among the triffids complete. One more site to go next Thursday.

A lot of driving, and a lot of balsam this week. More near Stirling tomorrow, then the first season's sampling will almost be complete. 🫠

Excited to see our paper now published in Methods in Ecology and Evolution @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social ! 🎉 doi.org/10.1111/2041...

Today I had a rare feeling about writing a grant proposal. Excitement!

@labouruk.bsky.social war on nature continues. This is idiotic. Had enough: I won't be voting for you next time. Labour blocks proposal for ‘swift bricks’ in all new homes www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Forgot to post on time for #wildflowerhour. Three #cabbagefamily species looking good this weekend: garlic mustard and cuckooflower, plus a tiny-flowered bittercress (6 stamens, so wavy I think).

Thank goodness the weather was on our side! Fun day.

And then there were some naturalised and sometimes downright invasive plants also seen around Penwith. Three-cornered leek is ubiquitous, Berberis darwinii escaping on Zennor Hill, and Carpobrotus edulis smothering cliff vegetation at Cape Cornwall. #wildflowerhour

Not so tiny, but still beautiful plants around the Cornish coast. Thrift and sea campion in profusion. Plus spring squill, and then primrose, dog violet and lesser celandine by the sea at Cape Cornwall. #wildflowerhour

I think dodder (here parasitizing gorse in Cornwall) could count as #tinyplants for #wildflowerhour!

Yesterday's megaliths: Lanyon Quoit, Nine Maidens of Boskednan, Mên-an-tol, and Boscawen-ûn stone circle.

Today at the end of Gurnard's Head.

Finally, the sun shone over Penwith. Delighted to revisit Trencrom hill, Zennor quoit, Chûn quoit and castle, and Carn Gluze barrow. More megaliths tomorrow.

I missed out on this week's #Wildflowerhour, but here's some cheerful gorse on Bodmin moor, and quirky Persicaria capitata on a Penzance wall instead.

#WoodlandPlants for #wildflowerhour, spotted during my Sunday run through Dibbinsdale nature reserve. Variegated yellow archangel (naturalised), great wood-rush, wood forget-me-not, and wood anemone.

A lovely plant to work with.

"Gun hire is required due to the risk posed by polar bears" First time I've had to write that in a grant proposal.

The campion are getting rampant. Today I was a busy bee and pollinated flowers for 4 pops! More on Friday no doubt...

For #wildflowerhour #Sepals, I found Danish scurvygrass on Beaumaris beach, with four greenish-purple pointed sepals per flower.

Caged campion

After a few warm, spring days, the red campion collection is starting to bolt! Better get them in their mesh cages quick...

Thanks for the invite! Some great questions from the audience 😊

On the other hand, this is brilliant.

So short-sighted. Labour seem to be worse than the Tories when it comes to the environment now. All because of meaningless fiscal rules...

Teasel seedlings are looking great! Look forward to seeing them grow in our garden.

Looking for a PhD in biological invasion? Come and join us at Coventry University @coventrycawr.bsky.social this September to study emerging invasive plants. Project in collaboration with @bsbiscience.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social and linked to @onestop-project.eu.

Well that's a lot of sand and soil!

My red campion collection is growing well in my polytunnel!

I missed #wildflowerhour yesterday, and saw no flowering #gardenescapes in my local nature reserve. Instead, at a point known locally as St Patrick's Well, I came across this lovely clump of opposite-leaved saxifrage, set in a lustrous green carpet of unidentified liverwort.

Well done to Alison! @bda-biodiversity.bsky.social The introduced and invasive flora of Bermuda. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

An intense but fun couple of days in York discussing invasive species. Just enough time to say hi again to this old beauty.

Ooh, new long-life trays! Looking forward to bigger sample sizes with less soil...