'Awyr Dân uwchben yr Hen Dŷ Injan - Fire Sky over the Old Engine House' An industrial glow in the sky above the old engine house at The British, Abersychan yesterday as the sun faded - a lovely moment to look at this relic of the past, evocative and beautiful.

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

One of several Stone Curlew within a 100 metres or so of our hotel accommodation in Corralejo, Fuerteventura recently.

Yesterday I went to a very dry Goldcliff to see this beauty. My first Willow Emerald. In the ditch, just past the humpback bridge.

Our last post on X...

Migrating Whinchat from last week. #birding #birds #naturelovers #birdphotography #Naturephotography #Wildlifephotography

Grey Phalarope still Llandegfedd res distantly from Dam, also Little Grebe #gwentbirding

AQUATIC WARBLER!!! Still can’t believe we caught this stunner at Carey this morning! Made it worthwhile giving it a go between weather fronts. The bird was interestingly a good weight of 15g! #ukbirding

More than three years have passed since the UK Government announced that it would ban the sale of peat for gardening, yet official documentation is still to appear and peat extraction continues:

A pleasent evening watching the rising tide at Peterstone, Gwent, turned a little manic in the final minutes before the mud was covered, when looking through the Redshank flock I found a Marsh Sandpiper, ooossh, County 1st!!!! Manage to relocate the bird about 45 mins later

The society is devastated after a grass fire damaged a significant part of Goldcliff Lagoons. However, the reserve remains open, and there are plenty of birds showing. www.gwentbirds.org.uk/2025/08/29/f... #birdingwales #gwentbirds

Diolch yn fawr iawn @nation.cymru and Jon Gower for this lovely opportunity to share a little about the fascinating landscape that is The Canada Tips, Blaenavon nation.cymru/feature/y-fi...

'Golygfa o'r drws blaen - View from the front door' - It's been many a year since someone lived in this dwelling alongside the Hill's Tram Road, just below The Keeper's Pond, Blaenavon, but this view from what would have been the front door remains magnificent. So evocative on many levels.

Climate denier buffoon gets a reality check - his damage already done. www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

So true.

These pieces of shit manage to bring Hezbollah into a disagreement about ecology in Hertfordshire because they are knee-jerk islamophobes and racists

I wrote about John “Ozzy” Osbourne—a working class lad made good, who rose from a slaughterhouse killing floor to the highest echelons of rock stardom in spite of himself, who gave us heavy metal and left a more complex legacy than many realize—for @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/cult...

Last week, @olds_liam led a guided walk for staff & students from University of Bristol at Coity Tips, Blaenavon. We explored the unique habitats and species of colliery spoil — which included sightings of iconic species such as Bilberry Bumblebee, Mottled Grasshopper, Fairy-flax & Bee Orchid.

Good morning, and welcome to a new week! Our featured tour this week is Fabulous Fuerteventura, a wonderful late-winter escape to a warm Canary Island naturalist's paradise, home to an enticing mix of birds, butterflies and wildflowers. (1/2) mariposanature.com/tours/wildli...

Ignore climate change deniers, says TV naturalist.... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Geezer and I on our way to the stage 🎸 Photo by Mark Weiss, ca. 1970s

A busy one this morning! Scarlet Tiger nfg, I suspect several other species will be too once I get round to processing 😁 #TeamMoth #MothsMatter

First Marbled White butterfly of the season from The British, Talywain, South Wales.

Today's visit to monitoring #PiedFlycatchers at @rspbcymru.bsky.social Gwenffrwd Dinas with #Fledgemore brings the season to an end about two weeks earlier than usual. Over 600 boxes monitored and well over 900 Pied Flys ringed or retrapped. @btocymru.bsky.social @birdsinwales.bsky.social

Back to one of my local patches, watching Whinchats and finding a disciple of God. www.thewildlifeoculus.com/2025/06/the-... #birdingwales

There is no such thing as an overreaction with what has now happened. This is the line in the sand. Every red hat who supports killing Americans is a traitor.

Chicago ✊

I would come home from school, drop my stuff, and disappear into the acres of thick brush where we'd all "play army", or into the 70 acre cornfield behind the house to just run around chasing my brother, or I'd grab a pole and pedal off to one of ten or twelve ponds I liked to fish. Wild heathens.

Remember this next time you see a dog owner encourage their beloved furbaby to swim around in the pond or river at a nature reserve or national park. People in conservation have actually thought this true for a while, in fact there are even 'sacrificial ponds'.

Birdbrained? A Reed Bunting at Magor Marsh (Gwent Wildlife Trust) today. #birdingwales #birds

'Grym Natur - The Power of Nature' Ty Cwmsychan Farm, Abersychan photographed yesterday and last November. One of so many trees damaged locally by high winds over the winter period.

'Tywydd gwyntog a heulog a gwyrdd ym mhobman - Windy and sunny weather and green everywhere' My favourite photo of the week. View at Cwmbyrgwm, The British, Abersychan looking towards the Pant Glas Slip. The landscape is looking so green now.

'Ar ôl glaw'r nos - After the night rain' A beautiful, but windy morning at The British, Abersychan. A lovely show of Oxeye daisies this year. I don't think I have ever seen them so abundant on this old industrial site. Amazing how Nature has transformed the landscape.

Lovely to see the work I did with Lynne Greenhalgh and Bronwyn Parker in Torfaen Gypsy Traveller Education Service at West Mon High School in Pontypool on display in the Futures Gallery in the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay! On until August, so go and take a look!

Be warned: attacking unions is a hallmark of fascism. https://www.commondreams.org/news/david-huerta-arrested

Common Butterwort - Pinguicula vulgaris flowering on the Long Mynd alongside a quiet stream #Wildflowerhour

PPS. Correction: 70 Knot not 55 Knot. #Knot #not

Welcome to Round 1 of Nature or No Nature! Keir Starmer, you were elected on a promise to meet legally binding nature targets. Now, funding for nature, and laws protecting species and habitats, are at risk. So, for a chance to win back public trust, your first question:

Just look at the totally unique form + textures of this Irish Atlantic rainforest birch. Wild trees are SO much more diverse than their planted 'native' equivalents, making far better habitat for all the 1,000s of other species that call these places home. #Rewilding 🌍

A wander over the former Comrie Colliery site #Fife closed in ‘86 accessed from the south #Coal #MiningLandscapes

Bit of luck today when this Cuckoo landed just feet from where I was standing #gwentbirding

Finally managed to get some decent images of Wheatear.

A fab day yesterday on the Blorenge and around the Nant Llanelen with @hoppy1951.bsky.social; Wheatear, Willow warbler, Tree Pip, Redstart, Pied Fly. Then 3 of the 4 Dotterel at Cwm Cadlan, Penderyn today. Thank you @rhoswilliams.bsky.social and others for location #birds #birdingWales

An Eurasian Dotterel (female) at Cwm Cadlan, National Nature Reserve. Great to visit it with my good friend Paul Joy. Dotterels are scarce birds. We had amazing views of these very confiding birds this morning. A start of a wonderful day's birding.#birdingwales

Really pleased to catch up with the four Dotterel at Cwm Cadlan near Penderyn today - a lifer for me. Well done to Mark Hipkin for finding them and getting the news out promptly. #birds #birdingWales

A singing Reed Warbler along with several Dingy Skipper butterflies and Large Red Damselflies at Blaenavon's minewater treatment site yesterday. @gos-birds.bsky.social

Green Longhorns this afternoon #teammoth @norfolknats.bsky.social

Whinchat - Tyn Llan, Cemlyn, Anglesey - 26/04/25. I was heading out to look for Wood Sandpiper, when @zspaull.bsky.social reported a male Whinchat at Tyn Llan. Plenty of water on the fields so hopefully that will bring in a wader or two. @angbirdnews.bsky.social #birdingWales

1. Because this issue is critical, but has received remarkably little coverage, here's a thread pulling out the key themes from my article yesterday, on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which puts decades of environmental protections to the torch. 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...