Today marks the equinox, the point where the scales will now tip in the favour of darkness as the start of astronomical autumn begins. It feels a little less equinoxal for me, as I gaze up at Ionian skies 🌌 I’m sure autumn will be waiting to welcome me in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Cafe at Llandudno Junction Station has an incredible ‘Passenger’s Pets’ wall of fame. Highly recommend, but WHO is travelling the rail network with a Cockatiel!?

I love this poster of the North Wales train lines ❤️ I’d hang this at home as a poster. Are they available to buy anywhere? @transportforwales.bsky.social @avantiwestcoast.bsky.social

On a train travelling through North Wales, enjoying the gasps of delight from passengers as they see the Carneddau on one side of them and Ynys Môn the other. I never take where I live for granted but seeing others experience it for the first time is always a reminder of the privilege ❤️

NOTHING will prepare you for this 45-second story arc. From "I'm just doing this because I love the flag, it's totally grassroots, and I'm not part of anything political"... to who actually gave him the flags the night before. Anyone who believes it is an innocent movement needs to see this.

Want to know how to watch tonight’s eclipse? I made a reel telling you all you’ll need to know ahead of the Moon rise tonight. www.instagram.com/reel/DOOqF6D... Wonderful image by my good friend Kirk Paton

Did anyone catch aurora last night? Please share your pics with me 🤩 She really kicked off meteorological autumn with a bang!

🚨 AURORA🚨 She is active right now! If you have clear skies, get to somewhere dark(ish) and look north. Here she is peeping through the clouds on the Shetland Webcam, faint currently but will get stronger.

✨ New Book - Oct 22nd ✨ Delighted to share with you the cover for my new book, ‘Creatures of Darkness’. Wildlife fans, come join me on the dark side as I introduce you to a wonderful and weird cast of 100 creatures that all depend on darkness 🌌 Available for pre order in all local shops

Lapwing are returning, Green and Redshank have arrived back today. The Martins are restless and the Starlings are stuffing themselves with berries. The seasons are turning… 🍂 Darkness is calling ✨ Make the most of the light whilst it’s here, and prepare for the resting season ❤️

Sure, water boarding is an illegal torture method, but have they tried making people paint ceilings instead? I’d be giving up state secrets 5 minutes in

LUNAR ECLIPSE 🌘 Set your alarms on Sept 7th for around 20:00 (from my location 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿) to see the very end of the ‘totality’ (when the moon is completely covered by the Earth’s shadow) As the Moon rises, you will see the Moon slowly slip out of our shadow 🌗

To the woman wrangling 3 kids who have all declared they need 3 different pairs of football/hockey/squash shoes for school tomorrow at 6pm the night before, AND sorting them all out whilst wearing a stiletto heel… I salute you. What a warrior. So many parents in the ‘back to school’ trenches today

My favourite thing about living next to a load of Airbnbs is when they all have out of control dogs and leave them outside to bark and howl for their entire stay 😍😍😍 Dog ownership skills severely lacking…

Never heard of personal space this boy

Stunning Moon rise as I sit and wait for the Perseids to kick in ☄️ Lovely to see a family allowing their kids stay up late to see the show - they are all extremely excited! Good luck to all out tonight, if you see nothing at least it’s cooler out there than indoors!

Early bird? Don’t worry, you can be an astronomer too! In the early, pre-dawn hours tomorrow - look East. You will see a beautiful conjunction between a very bright Venus and Jupiter. These two have been dancing through dawn for a week or so now, really sets your day off well

Despite the moon being 88% illuminated, I can confirm the big ‘uns are getting through. Huge Perseid went over the horizon as I was being introduced on Radio 4. There I was, squealing like a deranged piglet. I doubt they’ll ever have me back 😅 but you can’t see a fireball and not squeal!

Perched on a dune waiting to speak to Radio 4 and hoping to catch some Perseids! In a fortuitous turn of events a big fat cloud has parked itself over the rising moon, giving me a fighting chance - for now!

☄️ PERSEIDS METEOR SHOWER ☄️ If you have any clear skies from tonight to the 26th get outside and there’s a good chance you’ll see some shooting stars 💫 The nearly full moon will wash out the fainter ones this year, but any big fireballs will still show through!

The early bird catches the worm* *by worm I mean planets 🪐 Jupiter and Venus shining brightly in the dawn sky around 0430 am this morning 🌅 Could just catch the brighter stars of Orion and Auriga constellations too, before they were lost to the rising sun ☀️

My new phone is very smart and transcribes my voicemails for me without asking. The only problem? It doesn’t speak Cymraeg 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 All my voicemails look like they’re threatening to harm me or someone else 😂

Help. I need a plant person to help my poor plants. An Agony Plant if you will. Why won’t my containers drain 😭 I’ve got a severe case of soggy-bottom-dry-tops in my garden containers 🥲

Let me take this moment to also congratulate & thank the amazing Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal for 30 years! Esteemed theoretical astrophysicist, pop-sci author, tireless campaigner for the protection of dark skies, a genuine gentleman. Retired from astro-royal duties, but still sciencing! 🔭🧪

It only took them 350 years to recognise female astronomers, but a he congratulations to Michele Dougherty, the new Astronomer Royal (for England) 🪐 ✨ ☄️🔭

Guess who’s back? Darkness babaaaaaaaaay! For the first time since May, true, proper darkness will fill our skies for 30 glorious minutes 🤩

✨Tonight at 7pm✨ Catch me on BBC One as our documentary, ‘Guardian of the Night’ goes out live to the nation! What is darkness? What is light pollution? Why does it matter and why should you care? Find out at 7. If nothing else, the landscape shots are out of this world 🌌💙

Wild weekend - finally managed a bike ride ⬆️ but reinjured my knee ⬇️ Then fell into a hole and sprained my ankle ⬇️ Replaced my broken phone that’s been clinging on for the past year ⬆️ but then got bitten on the leg by a dog and went to minor injuries ⬇️ then found a fallen nest with dead chicks ⬇️

Look what we've got in store for you on Day Two of WCLF #Saturday ❤️🐳📚 www.westcorkmusic.ie/literary-fes...

10am today: Dani Robertson, Dark Sky Officer for Snowdonia National Park, tells us all about the wonders of our night skies, the havoc wreaked by light pollution and why darkness is so important – to plants, to animals, and to ourselves @danidarkskies.bsky.social www.westcorkmusic.ie/events/2025/...

Too late to catch it rising over the sea, but still a nice sight.

Absolutely stunning full moon rising above the misty ground this evening! Look South East if you can

Can anyone suggest a wood boring insect (U.K. - North Wales) that would make these teeny tiny hole and piles of saw dust in these garden logs? Any googling brings up pest killer sites that are unhelpful.

Why are all smart phones ginormous. I don’t want to walk around getting arthritis from using a flat screen TV as a phone 😅 I have smashed my iPhone 13 mini and it’s been discontinued and is not going to survive repairs 😭

One bad decision does not justify another - the current government appears to want to repeat the mistakes of its predecessors by avoiding the inconvenience of looking at evidence www.bats.org.uk/news/2025/06...

Catching up on BBC More or Less only to discover them fact-checking me 😱. Happily @planet4589.bsky.social approved 😌 phew! It's been estimated by 2030 there will be ~100,000 satellites in orbit, de-orbiting at rate of roughly ~1 per hr.🧪🔭 ℹ️ arxiv.org/pdf/2204.10025 📻 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Thank you to everyone who contacted their MP about the negative impacts that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will have on bats, other wildlife and our natural heritage; 573 MP's have been contacted. Thank you for caring and for supporting this campaign to have evidence-based policy making.

Sure would be a crying shame if someone told the Orcas that the world’s billionaires have all convened in Venice… And it’s a city that FLOATS on WATER This is your time to shine Orca! Go get ‘em!

Random question totally unrelated to current global events… History people - are there plans to protect heritage assets in the case of a threat of destruction? For example - Stone Henge? Does this stuff get planned for?

Happy solstice eve! I will be at a wedding tomorrow, enjoying the most of the longest day celebrating one my oldest friends. Seems a very fitting way to celebrate the solstice 💙 Enjoy the sunlight, what ever you get up to ☀️

Chough/Brân Goes Goch on the roof of a village hall. Don’t think I’ve ever seen one on a roof?

Finally got a bit of storm action early this morning! Ynys Môn, 0630. Such loud thunder and a cracking bolt ⚡️⚡️⚡️

The ‘lunar standstill’ will see the Moon at its lowest point on our horizon for 18.6 years thanks to the shape of its orbit. She will barely get to peep above the mountains here before she’ll drop back below the horizon a mere couple of hours later. Look South East just before 2300 tonight! 🌝

Not a far right meme generator using the Welsh language to promote far right English nationalism 🫣 Actually horrified

May was a very good month to have solar panels! ☀️ (Export top, usage bottom) @octopus.energy

For a second time, a barn owl is on my street, screeching away a top of a streetlight. Such very odd behaviour.

Ok, so Aurora peaked in the daylight hours, dropped off, but she’s now showing promising signs of getting her A game back! Remember your best chances for viewing are: 🌌 Find somewhere with little light pollution ✨head south - due to hours of darkness, North York Moors and below ⛅️ Clear skies

If you’re out to try and get lucky with the Aurora tonight, keep an eye on the skies for another phenomenal phenomenon too - Noctilucent Clouds or NLCs for short. These are ethereal, night shining clouds only visible a few weeks either side of summer solstice, so we are in prime NLC territory

🚨AURORA🚨 Very good chances of a strong Aurora display tonight/tomorrow! In the north, we haven’t had true darkness now for a fortnight so it’s going to have to be powerful to cut through the perpetual twilight, but, stats are looking very strong currently 🤞