It's sad when huge old trees fall but it does provide opportunities for fossicking around logs and branches and under slabs of bark. And today that produced a new harvestman, Nemastoma bimaculatum. There were also spiders but I've still to go through all my photos.

I bought these old RSPB magazines for their CF Tunnicliffe cover pictures. They look so good together (with that delicious typeface!)

Ms Mantis has been located to our lime tree. She climbed up near an egg case left by another mantis (unless they can produce two of these big egg cases within a month or two). #invertes SoCal

The wonderful train stop in Taormina, Sicily.

🏊‍♀️The women who swim at Kenwood Ladies Pond have already made their decision. In 2024, almost 900 members voted to keep their trans-inclusive policy - a policy that has worked peacefully since 2019. Now, a small campaign group is seeking to overturn that democratic decision through the courts. 1/5

Meet Phalangium opilio, one of the UK’s most common harvestmen! 🕷️ Males have striking horn-like chelicerae, as in the photo. Join our UK Harvestmen webinar with @megabunus.bsky.social on 30th December 2025. 🌎 🧪 Sign up: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1502201859... @britishspiders.bsky.social

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on charges of genocide.

Hopefully this thread will empower you to ask what condition your local designated site is in. You can also use MAGIC to see what public money a land owner has had access to, map layer, land based schemes, Agri-Environmental schemes, then I've chosen Environmental Stewardship Agreements

How you can use DEFRA Magic map to see the most recent condition assessment on an SSSI you are interested in. magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.html

Goodnight kisses from mum…

Spot the pseudoscorpion. Yesterday's 42 mile cycle ride down to Suffolk and back with @jeremybartlett.bsky.social included 3 brief churchyard surveys for pseuds. I managed to spot one under an old roof tile at one of them, a Chthonius ischnocheles which is the commonest species I encounter.

Think it’s a spider? Think again! 🕷️ Opilio canestrini is a harvestman—one of the UK’s most visible urban arachnids. Join @megabunus.bsky.social on 30 Dec 2025 (18:30–20:00) for a deep dive into arboreal harvestmen ecology. 🎟️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1502201859... @britishspiders.bsky.social

We've had a few folks asking for the recording of this session - this is still available for those that have missed the event. A big focus on behaviour and reproduction so please get in touch if you'd like to see it! @biologicalrecording.co.uk bsky.app/profile/biol...

Very excited for this one - it's going to be all about those super long legs. Why so long? How do they work? How do these arboreal species live? See you then!

Arbuthnott Church, the remarkable wee kirk that inspired Lewis Grassic Gibbon's "Sunset Song" has been put up for sale by the Church of Scotland for offers over £45,000 Unfortunately the community attempts to create a sustainable plan for its future were unsuccessful 👇 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Very concerning – deep-sea mining could be doing untold damage to the ocean's ability to support life

One of the houses built into the ruined west front of the former Benedictine abbey at Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. 📸 My own. #WallsOnWednesday #BuryStEdmunds

This tiny hemerobiid lacewing, Sympherobius occidentalis, arrived to the porch light last night. With magnification, we can see its hypnotic wing venation.

Pseudohydnum gelatinosum - Jelly tooth. Found recently in Perthshire forest. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #fungifriends

Bonfire Night can be frightening for pets. 🐾 Keep them indoors 🎶 Play gentle music or TV 🏠 Close curtains & windows- make them a safe space 🕯️ Keep fireworks/candles safely away 🦔 Check bonfires for wildlife before lighting Let’s keep everyone safe tonight 💛 #BonfireNight

Well this was neat. World's biggest spiderweb discovered inside 'Sulfur Cave' with 111,000 arachnids living in pitch black | Live Science share.google/IcsbD2Lb3zhT...

🌿 Rare opportunity! We’re partnering with the National Trust for Scotland to offer a paid, two-year traineeship in lichenology. Applications are open now. Find full details and apply by Friday 3 October: www.asva.co.uk/jobs/trainee... @n-t-s.bsky.social

I've wanted to see Purseweb Spider since I was a kid, but've never managed to find one despite much searching, so I was overjoyed when one of the other volunteers found this amazing arachnid during this morning's survey work - just look at the size of those chelicerae! @britishspiders.bsky.social

WALL OF THORNS: On the west coast of Scotland, facing out across the Firth of Clyde towards the Isle of Arran, stands the only functioning salt-making tower in the world. @countrylifemag.bsky.social

Part of a large patch of Devil's Fingers fungus (aka Octopus Stinkhorn) in Rye, East Sussex. I smelt them before I saw them. An intense bouquet of rotting flesh to attract insects that then help spread spores. Brilliant! @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #fungi #mycology #UKwildlife

Beautiful wood nymph (Eudryas grata) The "beautiful" is part of the name 😵‍💫 - add your own adjectives if you'd like ... When resting with wings folded, this moth resembles a bird dropping (at least, to some observers) #Inverts

The Clathrus ruber egg I took home has hatched! #FungiFriends

Wren on a Yorkshire dry stone wall. #ThePhotoHour #birds #birding #wildlife #nature #photography @yorkswildlife.bsky.social

After 25 years employment in the environment & education sector, today is my 1st day working as a freelance ecologist, facilitator, & educator! I'm really excited at the start of this new journey - please do drop me a line if you have any bird survey, facilitation, or environmental education needs.

Eucyclodes buprestaria - the Bordered Emerald A moth found in the southern half of Australia. This one was seen in a coastal area around 150km north of Perth #teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidopteta #inaturalist

Green bees are made of these Canon R5 and Sigma 150mm macro SS1/3200 F7.1 ISO3200

Opened up a Teasel head in the garden, no larva but full of frass in the centre. Endothenia gentianaeana I suspect, which will be NFG. Need to open up the other heads to double check. Plant it, and they will come 😊 #teammoth

Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans), N Carolina. These spiders are ambush predators that don't catch prey in a web - but look closely and you'll see that she's spun a silk scaffold to help her cling to the leaf (an especially good idea given that she's on a carnivorous pitcher plant). 🐙🌿 #bugsky

Devil's Fingers, Clathrus archeri, on a Dorset heath today. #wildfungihour

Drawing chimps #art #sciart #chimp #wildlifeart #arttips

Scarlet Caterpillarclub, Cordyceps militaris. Cavenham Heath, Suffolk. Seen on yesterday's trip outside the county for Norfolk Fungus Study Group. www.jeremybartlett.co.uk/2020/10/31/s... #Fungi #FungiFriends

A selection of other fungi from Cavenham Heath NNR from todays Norfolk Fungus Study Group foray: Steccherinum ochraceum, Ramaria cf stricta, Scarlet Caterpillar Club (Cordyceps militaris) and Cowpat Gem (Cheilymenia granulata).

Autumn Collection is launched! Start the early dark nights season with a creature to bring you some joy. www.celestineandthehare.com/new-collection

I am going to sit quietly a while and honour my ancestors, after I’ve had a cuppa. Samhain blessings or Happy Halloween from us all in the Shed, however you choose to mark the day

Welcome to the dark days of November. Time to slow down a little, to rest a little and embrace the darkness, confident that the Lightbringers are gathering up the last of the sparks of light to hold them safe for us over the winter. If you are quiet of heart you might just catch a glimpse of one

Craterellus tubaeformis - Trumpet Chanterelle. #FungiFriends

Rabbit Rabbit! (Ribbet Ribbet?) Going thru photos for the next book project and here's a rarity - a Leathery Milk Frog (Trachycephalus coriaceus). In 21 trips to NE Peru, I've only seen one. Called "milk frog" b/c skin glands produce a milky, irritating liquid.  #herps #frogs #NaturePhotography 🌿

Halloween calls for a view of my favorite Halloween-themed species I've photographed over the years: the northern ghost bat from Costa Rica!

🕷️ Britain’s craziest creature? Meet Megabunus diadema — a harvestman with eyes on a spiky turret! Not a spider, but part of its own Order: Opiliones. Learn more in our UK Harvestmen webinar on 5 Feb 2026: 🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1720584467... @britishspiders.bsky.social @megabunus.bsky.social

Happy 1st of November. Here’s a biscuit tin, designed in 1958 by CF Tunnicliffe

Extreme wealth inequality is killing planet Earth, and hijacking political power so as to be allowed continue. This is the most important thing to understand right now.

Many stories of haunted houses may be related to Cyclosa imago, also known as the Haunting Spider. When a colony settles an abandoned building, they collectively defend against human intrusion by forming dense webs, which have been interpreted as ghostly apparitions.

It's that time of year again when friends have their on-line pottery sale. See and buy the pots here: fitchandmcandrew.co.uk/shop/?mc_cid...