Happy Solstice!

A welcome correction from @regularslimeguy.bsky.social - these are actually tiny mushrooms!

Every year these tiny myxomycetes (slime moulds) pop up on fallen leaves in our garden, have been trying to get a decent photo for a few years now. This one's a start! Second photo is actual size!

The incredible Barbrook II visited in November, a stone circle partly enclosed by a drystone wall. This area is well worth a visit, with 3 stone circles and a cairn field in the near vicinity.

An army of Candlesnuff Fungus looking Mordor-esque, at Risley Moss NR.

An excellent start to my week off, stone circle bothering in the Peak District this morning and out for a Persian meal tonight. Swipe to see some spectacular poo-shrooms.

There's one species of mushroom I've wanted to see for years but never managed to, and that's the Death Cap (Amanita phalloides). So, I was chuffed to bits to discover some while on a nature walk with Fungal Punk Dave (go on one of his walks everyone, you won't regret it)!

Harden Moor Stone Circle (ring cairn), November 2025. Small but perfectly formed, and well worth a visit.

Harden Moor Stone Circle, a ring cairn at the top of Harden Moor in Yorkshire. Went up here to try and get some drone shots, luckily the weather was kind enough to cooperate for an hour after constant rain (which was NOT in the weather forecast) all morning.

More of those incredible fluorescent Sulphur Tufts 🍄

Sulphur Tuft + UV Torch = fluorescence 🔦

Male Red Mason Bee, April 2025 #bee #bees #gardeningforwildlife

Earlier this summer we found loads of caterpillars on our apple tree. Ever since we've been patiently waiting and it's finally happened - our babies have all grown up! 🤣 Into these beautiful Apple Ermine moths. #moths #teammoth #gardeningforwildlife

This young man was a complete surprise! He's an Orange Vented Mason bee - these can take 2 years to develop from egg to bee. This guy though had an extra long lie in - he hatched out a couple of weeks ago from one of my 2022 cocoons (I keep them an extra year - just in case)! #bees

A lovely walk up to Walshaw Dean today via the Pennine Way. Saw my first ever Lapwings on the way up, the end destination being the drowned stone circle / ring cairn, currently just about visible under Walshaw Dean middle reservoir due to the current dry spring.

The Blue Mason bees have arrived in the garden #bees

If, like me, you are struggling a bit in the UK mini heatwave, please have these bee toes to help cheer you up #bees

It's started! Bee season 2025 is open! #bees

Spot the baby bee..... #bees

That time of year where we get to see sunrise in the woods

It's uncharacteristically warm and sunny here at the moment and the robin is taking full advantage!

It was the world's first industrial estate - now it feels like an afterthought manchestermill.co.uk/trafford-par...

First Queen bumblebees of the year spotted this week! The first two in highly unlikely places - while in traffic on the M60 motorway, in Trafford Park (a highly industrial area) and finally yesterday at home! 🤣

First it was the #naturewriting and #gardening communities who moved to BlueSky making this place great, now loads of book lovers have turned up from #booktok using #booksky - basically making this place the best social network. Nature, gardening, books - what’s not to love?! 💞

Little globular springtail doodle in colored pencil and ink. Inspired by @the_forest_tin on IG, one of my fav macro photographers. 💚 #SciArt 🎨🕷️🐡🐞🌱

There's been radio silence on here for a sad reason - we had to say goodbye to our beautiful Halloween-born eldercat Zero a few days ago. He was 18, but seemed much younger - vets had a habit of asking if I was sure of his age in his later years - until last Summer when we lost his brother...

Mountain Hares have been protected in Scotland since 2021. They are still not protected in The Peak District. www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/news/derbysh... #hares #mammals #wildlife #nature

I've not been able to stray too far from home over Christmas as we're nursing our sick Elder-Cat, but managed an hour in our local woodland at lunchtime today. It was absolutely glorious out there, a far cry from the stormy weather over New Year.

My new year's resolution this year is to spend more time here - for various reasons I can't spend much time out in nature at the moment (and haven't for a while) and I believe the nature community here is building to be as awesome as it was at The Other Place in years gone by...

It is still an absolute punch to the guts to see the space where @NQGrowboxes was... That tiny space where nature absolutely thrived (including some pretty rare bees) is now just an extension to the car park. I'm still grieving the loss of this very special place.

A very belated chilli harvest, brought in in the nick of time before the first frost. Didn't do very well this year (just don't think it was warm enough for them outside) but better than nothing! 🌶️

Another incredible garden find - a leaf studded with a forest of what looks like miniscule fungi (these measured a couple of mm at most). While they look like fungi, they are actually Myxomycetes - the fruiting body of a slime mould which will be helping the fallen leaf decompose.

Unearthed this treasure while gardening - an Elephant Hawk Moth pupae! Now relocated safely under some moss.

The hedge at the front has been in a few years now, and it feels like every Autumn new fungi appear. These are Elvin Saddles and also some tiny friends if you look closely! #fungifriends

First Springtailing session of the Autumn a success. This one (Dicyrtomina I think) has recently eaten, signified by the green colouring at the top of its back.

I'm grounded at the moment due to covid 🤒 so didn't have high hopes for aurora spotting last night from my back garden situated in one of the most light polluted parts of the country...then THIS happened!

5 years ago today at my much missed @nqgrowboxes 😞

One of my favourite additions to the garden over the past couple of years has been Willhoughby's Leafcutter #bees, they are gentle giants with massive front legs and just a lovely bee to have around.

The Wood Carving Leafcutters have finally appeared, the males are partial to a rest in the Knapweed in the afternoon 😅 #bees

Life's felt a bit rough lately, but time spent out in the garden with these guys makes me feel so much better 🥰

Leafcutter season has definitely started - late this year, even for us in the North West - guessing due to the weather! This beehouse guest is a male Patchwork Leafcutter bee #bees

Waiting out the rain yesterday, a male Willoughby's Leafcutter #bee

It's tiny frog time in the garden! That's me done mowing the lawn for the rest of the year.

It genuinely feels like the male Red Mason bees were only around for about 5 minutes this year... I miss them! #bees

We've had our very first Robin nest in the garden this year, look who fledged this morning! 😍

Really pleased to have had a few Blue Mason bees turn up this year, fingers crossed they choose to nest here! #bees

This year the male Red Mason bees have decided to share sleeping accommodation, despite there being plenty of room for all 😆 This is leading to some bottlenecks when everyone tries to get up at the same time in the morning #bees

It's been just a touch windy out there the last couple of days

They're baaaacccckkk! 😁

A momentous moment in the garden today - our very first mining bee nest tunnel! Always thought the soil was unsuitable here but they seem to have found a spot where it's acceptable 😁