There were so many flea beetles on the bramble at Clopton, Cambs, today that is sounded like rain when you walked past and disturbed them! There must have been several thousand. I have keyed them to Batophila aerata

A passage Spotted Flycatcher at RSPB Hope Farm, Cambs, earlier this week @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social #UKBirding

They have turned up at RSPB Hope Farm this year too 😁

Hi @britishspiders.bsky.social @graemelyons.bsky.social, I found this Xysticus at Dungeness last weekend in the short turf near the bird obs. It looks like an ok match for X. acerbus to me but I can't see any other records for Kent. What do you think?

I learnt a lot today on a great course on willows run by Brian Eversham at the local Wildlife Trust reserve in Cambourne. Some highlights below:

Hi @bramblebotanist.bsky.social, this bramble looks different to the usual R. ulmifolius to me. I don't suppose it is something recognisable? In Cambourne, Cambs, today.

It’s the big day! After four years of research, writing and editing (and procrastination, terror and imposter syndrome), Endemic has now been released to the world.

Excellent start to the ringing season at Clopton, South Cambridgeshire- 500 warblers from 6 visits with record numbers of Sedge & Reed Warblers. Willow, Grasshopper, Garden and Lesser Whitethroat increasing and first passage Redstart yesterday. @CambsBirdClub

This feels like the perfect post to reply to and announce this - but my book, Endemic: Exploring the wildlife unique to Britain, which includes a chapter on the No Parking Whitebeam, comes out a week today. share.google/Rgyzzyr777Hi...

Our June issue is out! Topics this time include the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, twenty-five years of RSPB Hope Farm, fifty years of legal protection for bats in Britain, a history of Munsary Peatlands, and Pine Martens in the New Forest. For more, see www.britishwildlife.com/back-issues/...

Nice day in the Brecks yesterday! #Pan-speciesListing

A visit to the RSPB's Hope Farm in Cambridgeshire courtesy of @duerden.bsky.social to check out some Verbascums led to an opportunity to get photos of Broad-leaved Spurge (Euphorbia platyphyllos) for my website. Now a rare and declining species in East Anglia and a new species for me.

Another day, another fish. This time a Bleak that I managed to catch from the Ouse in Huntingdon before my pond net broke! #Pan-speciesListing #YearofFish

Fringed Water-lily and Gudgeon were both new to me on a short walk along the River Ouse in Huntingdon after work today #Pan-speciesListing #YearofFish

Tree surgeon or Green Woodpecker!?

Two Ring Ouzels were grounded by the drizzle at RSPB Hope Farm today! @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

I was pleased to find Shepherd's-needle during a breeding bird survey at RSPB Hope Farm this morning. New for me and the farm!

Premier Inn didn't even charge me extra to get a room that came with springtails! This Willowsia buski was in the sink, a new species for me #Collembola #Pan-speciesListing

Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem, Goshawks, Rock Snails, and Painted Woodlice were nice to see in the sunshine in Coates, Gloucestershire today #Pan-speciesListing

Send me records: I am excited to be taking on the role of national springtail recorder. I have huge shoes to fill, but I hope to continue the progress Peter Shaw made in understanding the taxonomy and biology of the UK's #springtails. www.brc.ac.uk/scheme/colle...

A bit of night-time ringing recently.

Perfect conditions for gull watching today at Cambs Research Park with @jonheath.bsky.social. Several Caspians and lots of colour-rings read. #UKBirding

It was good to see Hyloniscus riparius on the banks of the Avon near Evesham today. It's a new arrival in Britain so far only known from this stretch of river. My fourth record of Trichoniscoides albidus was a nice bonus! #Pan-speciesListing bmig.org.uk/species/hylo... bmig.org.uk/species/tric...

Over a couple of days at Spurn in mid-August with @duerden.bsky.social, we recorded over 500 species. This included the obligatory Sea Holly, Dune Chafer (which was new for me) and Duerden showed me Garden Parsley which is naturalised all over Spurn.

However, that Essex field had two other species that were even more exciting. The first two pictures are of a *Watermelon*, Citrullus lanatus. The next mindblowing species is Melon, Cucumis melo, which had grown an actual melon!! A wild, Essex melon!

Just realised I forgot some important Essex inverts! This snail, Monacha ocellata, was discovered at Tilbury, Essex, in 2017 & the site was almost immediately built on. I reasoned that the remaining roadside verge might still hold them - and it did! Credit to @duerden.bsky.social for spurring us on!

There are only a few British records of the springtail Neonaphorura duboscqi so I was pleased to extract several from mixed deciduous/pine leaf litter at RSPB Hope Farm recently. The six anal spines are distinctive but not easy to see! #Pan-speciesListing

Day 26 cabin fever (yesterday) offset by a trip to see some tree sparrows and ducks at Welney with a lovely friend who takes me out in Storms so I don't die of boredom @duerden.bsky.social

Nice bird list from Grafham water last weekend, especially as we could only sit in one spot the whole time. 38 species, with highlights of good numbers of Goldeneye, Little Grebe, and Red Shank. Thank you @duerden.bsky.social for being my babysitter

A bit of an oddity in St Neots today, the fourth Cambridgeshire record of Yellow Dodder (Cuscuta campestris)! #Pan-speciesListing

It's been great to spend a few days at Wicken Fen looking at springtails and mites. We found a great variety including two mites that will be new to Britain (when Matthew has ID'd them!) #Pan-speciesListing

Here's my compilation of British springtails I filmed a few years ago. I'll have enough clips for a part two soon! #Springtails #Collembola youtu.be/KnV7OgiS2WU?...