CALL FOR 2025 RECORDS! The moth traps are quiet, so it's the ideal time to submit your 2025 Dorset (VC9) moth records. More info about this at dorsetmoths.co.uk/help.php. To be included in the 2025 Annual Report, records should be received by Saturday 28 February 2026. @dorsetmoths.bsky.social

Lot of wonderful photos from @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social holidays now available at www.flickr.com/photos/wildl..., including mine from the joy-filled Cyprus Christmas 2025 trip and some amazing bird images from @wildlifeprecey.bsky.social in Bhutan… Ideal to banish the winter blues!

The first Upton garden session of the 2026 moth year produced single Ypsolopha ustella & Scrobipalpa costella this morning (2/2), albeit with both ultimately being chased around the kitchen for a photograph after escaping from an absolutely sodden trap #TeamMoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social

Goldeneye (m) Weymouth, Dorset @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

My 1st opportunity to get out locally this yr & my inaugural visit to St Aldhelm's Head, with 160 Skylark & 120 Linnet the highlights, followed by a wild goose chase around Purbeck (somehow managing to dip both WFG & Bean) & a final dip of YBW @ a feline-filled Hatch Pond @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

back to the beginning... I started my #Bhutan trip with a roadside Ibisbill just outside Paro, and 10 days later I'm back, just a stone's throw away from a male Wallcreeper: two monotypic families within sight of each other. Winter in Bhutan... beats Storm Goretti any day! #Ibidorhynchidae

Lovely to see at least 13 Tundra Bean Geese in fields between Sandwich and Deal just now, amongst 70+White-fronts and several commoner goose species @kentishplover.bsky.social

There were far fewer large gulls in Pegwell Bay over high tide today, compared to my last survey visit in December, but I still managed to eke out three Caspian Gulls amongst the loafing flock, comprising a boldly patterned 2nd winter bird & two 3rd winters @kentishplover.bsky.social

Apochima flabellaria - thanks to @swaystevek.bsky.social for the ID. An absolutely bizarre looking Geometrid!

I attracted multiple examples of this amazing looking moth to my lit balcony in western Cyprus last week, but am still failing to come up with a species ID based on limited online resources. If anyone has an idea then do please let me know #TeamMoth

Happy New Year everyone! The 2026 mothing season still seems a long way off, so here's a selection of the species attracted to my balcony light in Cyprus last week that would definitely get my juices flowing over here: Cosmopolitan, (presumed) Marigold Shark, Bordered Straw & Winter Pearl #TeamMoth

An unexpected, but greatly appreciated, New Year's gift from Phil Bentley & Peter Moore when they found this exquisite pair of Smew off Studland this morning. The 1st Dorset record in almost a decade & a welcome county tick - seeing this spp annually at Dunge' in my teens now seems a distant memory.

A belated Xmas visit to my folks in Kent allowed for a brief foray to Dunge' today, taking in a fantastic mixed goose flock on Walland Marsh (containing 30+ Tundra Beans, 6 WF Geese, & 28 Bewick's Swans, amongst 5 other goose spp) & getting my customary festive Casp' fix on the #RSPB Reserve.

Boxing Day saw our @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Cyprus group ascend the Akamas Peninsula, with highlights incl'g the 1st flowering Ophrys omegaifera subsp. israelitica of the season, a cranky Sun Spider, & a fabulously spiny female Drilus (False Firefly) beetle on the hunt for snails in Neo Chorio

A feast of botanical treats from Christmas Day in Cyprus including intensely fragrant Narcissus tazetta, beautifully patterned Cyclamen persicum leaves and architectural seed heads of the endemic Onopordum cyprium… Merry Christmas to all! @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social @beardybirder.bsky.social

Merry Christmas from Cyprus! Our @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social festive group enjoyed a range of botanical treats as we explored the Latsi hillsides today, including carpets of the beautiful (& delicately scented) Narcissus tazetta & the very first few flowering Fan-lipped Orchids of the season.

Botanical highlights from Day 2 of the @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Cyprus trip - tiny spikes of Autumn Grape-Hyacinth, the diminutive Narcissus deficiens, an early-flowering Crown Anemone and autumn flowering Ranunculus cyathaerus -all at Tombs of the Kings, Paphos. @beardybirder.bsky.social

If you go down to the woods today you could be in for a big surprise... Our @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Cyprus group were lucky to discover several wonderfully large & hairy European Tarantulas hiding beneath carefully tipped rocks in Peyia Forest this afternoon. Absolutely fabulous spiders.

Christmas came early for our Cyprus @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social group in Peyia Forest today, as we encountered a wonderful array of flowering bulb species, including the tiny but statuesque Hyacinthella millingenii, the ephereal Colchicum pusillum, & the absolutely stunning Romulea tempskyana

A wonderful day spent exploring some of my old haunts east of Pafos whilst co-leading the @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social group, taking in some great birds (incl'g Pallid Harrier, Long-legged Buzzard, & Spur-winged Lapwing), a diminutive Kotschy's Gecko, & the SW Cypriot endemic Aphrodite's Dandelion

The 2nd full day of the @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Cyprus trip was a fab mix of culture & wildlife, taking in Agios Neophytos, Tomb of the Kings, & Kato Pafos Archeological Park, plus the glorious Narcissus deficiens, Crown Anemone, Cone-headed Grasshopper, & several sublime Red-throated Pipits

Stormy weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of the group currently spending Christmas in Cyprus with @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Fascinating plants, birds, invertebrates and geology - something for everyone… Details of species in ALT Great to be co-leading again with @beardybirder.bsky.social

This is all manner of wonderful

It's great to be back in (a currently rather soggy) Cyprus, co-leading the long-running @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Christmas trip with @sarahlambert7.bsky.social - this morning's invert highlights along the quiet Latsi roadsides included Winter Pearl moth & several attractive spider species

I finally agreed it was winter this morning and made my first visit of the season to Jerry's Point. The imm Velvet Scoter was still in residence (surprisingly my 1st in the harbour), as well as 5 apiece of BN Grebe & GN Diver @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @harbourbirds.bsky.social

A fabulously furry December Moth (one of my favourite species) was new for the Upton garden trap this morning, alongside a single Tachystola, after what will almost certainly be its last outing in 2025 - it's been an absolutely fantastic suburban mothing year #TeamMoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social

An expectedly quiet December wander around St Aldhelm's Head this morning, with little of note bar the continuing presence of a sizeable mixed finch flock in the Pier Bottom cover crop @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Epic recovery report just received! ⚠️ A Turnstone I trapped using a homemade walk-in trap has been recaptured in the 🌍 world’s 🌎 northernmost continuously inhabited settlement. Ringed on 12 February 2024 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex 🇬🇧, it was re-trapped on 08 June 2025 in Alert, Nunavut… 🇨🇦 (🧵 1/2)

An enjoyable few days surveying around Sandwich Bay (despite the rain) with 4 Snow Buntings @ Princes Beach, 6 Caspian Gulls (incl'g 4 different adults between Deal & Pegwell today & a hefty 1st winter seen across the weekend near Deal), & a smart adult YL Gull @ Pegwell @kentishplover.bsky.social

I never thought I'd see Lesser Crested Tern in the UK, having missed the long-returning Elsie on the Farnes in my teens & the last UK record in Norfolk 20(!) yrs ago, so this morning's trip to the Exe Estuary with @moorebirdsbybike.bsky.social was much appreciated. I do love an "orange-billed" tern!

A subad male Hen Harrier SW over the fields (my 1st grey bird on the patch) was the highlight of a typically wintry wander around St Aldhelm's Head this morning, plus single Redpoll & Bullfinch, & a sizeable flock of Chaffinch enjoying the new cover crop by the quarry @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Support your county bird club! Dorset Bird Club is a fantastic organisation that funds conservation initiatives, collates ornithological data from across the county, & provides a social & focal hub for local birders. If you're not one already, DBC have a fab new membership offer for the next... 1/n

Looking forward to the British & Irish Botanical Conference tomorrow, where I'll be manning the @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social exhibit, sharing exciting opportunities for natural history holidays with a strong botanical focus. Do come and say hello! @bsbibotany.bsky.social

up early today, for our trip onto the San Lorenzo ridge up here, it seems almost everything, at least amongst the birds, is a Santa Marta endemic, found on this isolated Colombian massif and nowhere else #WildlifeTravelling in #Colombia

While birds and bats both developed adaptations for flight, the way they went about it is so fundamentally different it affects their possible ecological adaptation. Specifically, birds can easily shift to a walking lifestyle, bats can't. 🧪 Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Four new species for Dorset (and a belated one for Britain) are among the highlights of the Dorset Moths Annual Report 2024. Free PDF downland from dorsetmoths.co.uk #teammoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social @migrantmothuk.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

This fantastically stripy-legged Harpactea hombergi, a species more commonly associated with a range of outdoor habitats, was wandering around the slightly less salubrious environs of my Upton bathtub just now #spiders

I do like an Icterid, & a minor homeward detour this afternoon saw me taking in the wonderfully characterful Boat-tailed Grackle currently residing in Holbury. Thanks to the gent who invited me into his drizzly garden, as the bird wandered around the lawn with the local Woodpigeons #PlasticFantastic

Happy to see our new paper in @globalchangebio.bsky.social, led by @canobarbacil.bsky.social, on long-term trends in coastal bird communities across 3 European seas. Bird abundance and diversity have increased over time, thanks to the role of protected areas. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Genetic confirmation of an “uncommon mourningthroat” (Geothlypis philadelphia  ×  G. trichas): A rare but persistent hybrid warbler | www.tandfonline.com/... | Wilson Journal of Ornithology | #ornithology 🪶

The Sandwich Bay Hume's YB Warbler was showing wonderfully on occasion and calling frequently in this afternoon's sunshine, alongside a single Firecrest and multiple Goldcrests/Chiffs. A nice little bonus after several busy days of surveying.

Nice to have a Single Snow Bunting fly north, calling, up Sandwich Bay beach (at a point c.1.5km north of Deal) just now, whilst sat undertaking survey work @kentishplover.bsky.social

major oof-age up in the clouds of Los Nevados, with a friendly Buffy Helmetcrest smiles all round #WildlifeTravelling in #Colombia

This typically boisterous Caspian Gull was causing havoc on Sandwich Bay beach this afternoon; one of three present, alongside a single Yellow-legged Gull, amongst a large congregation of pre-roosting gulls @kentishplover.bsky.social

I was fortunate to make it over to the Fleet Bridging Camp this afternoon, just as the sun was setting, to take in the Desert Wheatear found an hr earlier by Brett. My 1st of this lovely spp in Dorset, & in the UK overall for a long time, braving the gale like a trooper @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Are you an MSc student based at a UK university? Or do you know one? RSPB @rspbscience.bsky.social have just released their list of research projects for 2026: www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu... #ornithology #conservationscience 🌍

A few chilly hrs first thing at St Aldhelm's Head prod'd 7 Go.Plover & a single Lapwing, plus a ludicrous 77 (recently released) RL Partridge. Several roving Yellowhammer flocks were still about too, but there was sadly no sign of their coniferous cousin from last week @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Sadly, we have seen a big increase in avian flu cases in the UK - particularly in waterfowl Whilst the risk to the public remains assessed as very low, Government advice is not to touch any visibly sick or dead birds, and to keep pets away Read on for ways to help: 📷Ben Andrew

Just had a Hooded Crow (or hybrid) fly north over the A35 at Winterbourne Steepleton with two Carrion Crows @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

A welcome 26/11 in the Upton garden trap after a wet night incl'd 5 Palpita vitrealis, 2 RDP & my 7th Golden Twin-spot of the yr, plus another well-marked Plusiid that shot out as soon as I opened it, which I really hope was a Silver Y... #TeamMoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social @migrantmothuk.bsky.social