A few flowers of Chamomile still lingering on Tunbridge Wells Common #wildflowerhour

Bulbous Buttercup, showing the distinctive downturned sepals, in Calverley Grounds. Very late to see this one flowering. #wildflowerhour

Second growth of Wild Carrot in one of the wildflower meadow areas in Calverley Grounds #wildflowerhour

Intrigued by images posted by @ianbeavis.bsky.social from British Blood-sucking Flies by Edwards, Oldroyd & Smart (1939) I found that it had had a precursor in Illustrations of British Blood-sucking Flies (1906), with paintings by Amedeo John Engel Terzi. @archive.org archive.org/details/illu...

One spider book amusingly described this one as 'uncommon unless it occurs in your house'

Water Bent has exploded in numbers in Kent too. No records in the 1982 plant atlas, only 13 squares in the 2010 edition (seen here). Now it's a very common street weed.

A fantastic haul of beautiful Waxcaps and associated grassland fungi at Felbrigg Hall in north #Norfolk with @waxcapscooch.bsky.social today. One of the top sites in the county.

Another obscure road verge, another Mediterranean fruit tree.. Hot on the heels of last week’s self-set Olive Olea europea today’s #NorfolkFloraGroup star find was a self-set Peach Prunus persica!

#FlyFriday beautiful dark-colored assassin fly Diogmites nigripennis (Macquart, 1847) (Asilidae: Dasypogoninae) with wasp prey - collected at La Selva, Costa Rica in 2010 - 1 of 125 species of assassin flies known from this lowland rainforest habitat - n2t.net/ark:/65665/3... #asiloidflies

More from 'British Blood-sucking Flies', Edwards Oldroyd & Smart, 1939

A portrait of the mosquito in question, Culiseta annulata, from 'British Blood-sucking Flies' (1939)

Good morning from Greece 🇬🇷 Banded Garden Spider (Argiope trifasciata). This species native range is the Americas, but it has been introduced to many places worldwide, and now it has found my Greek island too. First records were 2023.

Lunuled wings gleam, Banded dancers trace green paths— Ivy hums with life. #Haiku #haikupoem #haikupoetry #Hoverflies #flies #Insects #pollinator #nature #syrphidae #knowledge #biology #wildlife #diptera

I was not expecting to see a Clouded Yellow in Calverley Grounds today! This migratory species is most commonly seen on the coast and rarely appears as far inland as Tunbridge Wells

Females of the mining bees Lasioglossum morio (left, one of the bronze-green metallic species) & L lativentre in Calverley Grounds today. Lasioglossum females hibernate as adults, so may stay active very late in a warm autumn.

My first Snow Flea (Boreus hyemalis) of the winter at Cali Heath @yorkswildlife.bsky.social reserve today. Nice of her to pose out in the open on a fallen leaf, so didn't need to spend hours waiting for one to emerge from the Polytrichum moss! @ynuorg.bsky.social #Mecoptera #Boreidae #ukwildlife

I've waited a lifetime to find Striated Bird's Nest fungus, and this week I've seen it twice! Also a magnificent colony of Coral Slime-mould, a troop of another slime-mould Physarum sp. with a lime-encrusted peridium and a heap of Witch's Butter. At @wildlifebcn.org Old Sulehay NR 📷🍄

Great to see the paper by @ecology-digest.bsky.social and I on the new British woodlouse (Chaetophiloscia elongata) now available. Check it (and other great material) out at bmig.org.uk/view/resourc...

Very unexpected little visitor to the ivy on Saturday morning - and seemed much larger than usual! The photobombing greenbottle is trying on butterfly-wings. A third generation this late in the year is apparently unusual, but could be a sign of our changing times.

Hedge Mustard on the edge of Tunbridge Wells Common #wildflowerhour

Second growth of Cow Parsley on Tunbridge Wells Common #wildflowerhour

Atlas Poppy long naturalised on the edge of Tunbridge Wells Common #wildflowerhour

The hoverfly Syrphus vitripennis on Tunbridge Wells Common today

A male Locust Blowfly on Tunbridge Wells Common today

Female of the rare mining bee Andrena gravida still active in Calverley Grounds today

The mining bee Lasioglossum lativentre - found 2 of these in Calverley Grounds yesterday

More of Frederick Russell's beautiful illustrations from his Medusae of the British Isles (1953)

These pictures remind me of the delicately coloured illustrations in Frederick Russell's Medusae of the British Isles (1953)

Several Eristalis pertinax droneflies feeding at Fatsia in Calverley Grounds today. Increasingly late-flying in recent mild late autumn / early winter periods, along with E tenax that's always been winter-active.

Plenty of bees & hoverflies visiting sunlit Fatsia in Calverley Grounds today. Note the Buff-tailed Bumblebee queen at far left.

Fatsia is a late-flowering member of the ivy family & as ivy bloom starts going over late-flying bees, hoverflies, wasps etc will switch. In Tunbridge Wells, look out for the plants in Calverley Grounds

Always sweet when December Moth finally appears in the garden trap, just the one amongst x19spp. over the last couple of nights which included a NFG (but moribund) Ypsolopha ustella. Out this morning for a Dusky Warbler and there were Aspen leaves everywhere (see alt text). #teammoth #vc55moths

Wow, we found an even bigger and brighter one!!! analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2025/11/how-...

#FungiFriday Delighted to see the Pink Ballerinas (Porpolomopsis calyptryformis) are dancing once again in N. Lancs after an absence of two years 🩷.

A portrait of Aulonia albimana, the spider featured in that last repost, from Michael Roberts' Spiders of Great Britain & Ireland (1985)

Congrats to @graemelyons.bsky.social and Mark Telfer for an amazing discovery 👏👏🕷️ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A beautifully marked Dinophalus sp. hanging out by the moth trap this morning. This is likely the undescribed species currently known as Dinophalus sp. ANIC12 #teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidopteta #inaturalist

Warm end to the week with a lovely 25°C on Friday brought more activity at the garden black light, including the first Green Blotched moth (Cosmodes elegans) of the year #teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera #Leptember

I found three Brown Hairstreak eggs today during a casual search at the Dorset patch....still too much leaf on the Blackthorn bushes at present to search for more! @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

Nemastoma bimaculatum - one of the UKs commonest harvestmen often found under rocks lying on the ground. Orley Common, Devon

Probably the most beautiful roach I've ever seen in real life - a flower roach (Eucorydia aenea)! This is a male, generally more iridescent than the females. Turns out, at least as adults, they love beetle jelly!

Slightly better moth trap haul this morning including first Yellow-line Quakers of the year and only my second Merv of the autumn. Good to see Feathers McThorn too (kudos to @mavisbickle.bsky.social for officially renaming Feathered Thorn!) #teammoth

10/16 in Marbury VC58 last night. Highlight a Sprawler NFY. Shame it was a very battered. Other notables: a lovely fresh Figure of Eight, 2 Merveille du Jours, 4 Feathered Thorns, 3 Black Rustics, Red-line and Yellow-line Quakers, Pale Mottled Willow, Large Yellow Underwing #teammoth

This week’s botany surprise was a self set Olive Olea europaea on a Norfolk verge. Presumably from seed of a cultivated tree from a nearby garden, lodged in a stump by a small mammal. C. 10 years old. Seems to be the first wild record @bsbibotany.bsky.social ? #wildflowerhour #NorfolkFloraGroup

Fuchsia long naturalised & competing with brambles in Woodbury Park Cemetery #wildflowerhour

Mexican Fleabane and Orange Hawkweed in Woodbury Park Cemetery #wildflowerhour

Late-flowering plant of False Oxlip, the hybrid between primroses & cowslips, in Woodbury Park Cemetery #wildflowerhour

While Tunbridge Wells station has the ubiquitous pigeons, Tonbridge station has jackdaws.

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

More late-flying hoverflies from today - these on Tunbridge Wells Common. Cheilosia vernalis (left) & the 'Footballer' Helophilus pendulus