Snowy Waxcaps on a piece of former industrial land on the outskirts of Port Talbot, South Wales. I love watching these places revert to nature ! #fungi #fungifriends

A Green-winged orchid rosette (Anacamptis morio) survives on what's left of Dawlish Warren Point after the autumn storms. 8/11/2025

Ophrys lindia and Ophrys eptapigiensis from this year's @mariposanature.bsky.social Orchids of Rhodes tour that, as usual, I co-led with my good friend @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social. Just two of the many rarities we saw that week - we know the island's secret places and hidden taxa treasures intimately.

Pink Waxcap (Porpolomopsis calyptriformis) - At least twice the usual number of mushrooms pushing their way up through the dead bracken alongside the wood-rushes 🩷🌿 #Fungi #FungiFriends #Mushrooms

Many of our butterfly tours, like this week's featured tour of the week, Spring Butterflies of Central & Northern Spain, also encounter #orchids. Always a happy find, nobody's day was ever made worse by seeing one of these beauties! mariposanature.com/tours/butter...

Tiny earpick fungus on a pine cone. #fungifriends #mushroommonday #mycology

Until recently I used to do my own thing chasing orchids around Europe. Then I did the Rhodes trip with #Mariposa_Nature The quantity and variety of orchids found by #thenewgalaxy and #dunnjons were amazing. Subsequently I've booked 2 in the past year and 3 for next year. Do it!

Good morning, and hello November! There's just one month left on our early bird deal for 2026 holidays, offering £150 off the list price of any week-long tour if booked before 1 Dec 2025. Bee orchids, birds, butterflies (or bears!), we've lots of choice! mariposanature.com/calendar #nature

Did this really happen, or did I dream it? A long time ago (in colour though) I was watching Wimbledon tennis on TV Camera zooms in to a White-letter Hairstreak on the baseline?!? Anyone else recall this?

It's #SeaSlugDay, you say? Have a Grey Sea Slug (a travesty of an English misnomer for Aeolidia papillosa) busily eating alive a hapless Beadlet Anemone that, short-changed by evolution, couldn't run away from it. Nature red in tooth and claw (and wobbly stuff) in a rockpool on #Shetland in 2021.

Crab Brittlegill, Birch Brittlegill, Chestnut Bolete & Bloody Brittlegill from Wareham Forest 🍄‍🟫❤️🍂 #Mushrooms #Fungi #MushroomMonday

The fungal (and lichen) jewels of a South Wales wood for #FungiFriday #fungi All seen 23/10/25

Flying Duck! Oh to see one of these in the flesh, as it were. Magnificent.

I'm giving this a go tonight.

A 60 second summary of some of the biggest and best sights from #NoKings Day. Congratulations to every single organizer, volunteer and attendee👏 History.

Ah, yes. I remember it well

Our Late Spring Orchids of Sicily tour now has just 1 place remaining available. Running 1-8 May 2026, with leaders 'Orchid Summer' author Jon Dunn & Sicilian naturalist legend Andrea Corso, it generates a donation to @bsbibotany.bsky.social #BSBIcorporatesponsor mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

And a few more....

Inspired by all the amazing fungi photos posted here recently, I took my camera on a stroll through an Exmoor wood.

Carline on Braunton Burrows today brighten up a dull day

Huge variety of Brittlegills & Milkcaps fruiting at the moment #Fungi #Mushrooms

Snap these last places up quick! I did this trip a couple of years back and it is (so far) the best Orchid trip i have done ( and I have done a few) Best guides. Best Orchids. Best food and drink, and best guests. Very fond memories.

Charcoal Burner with Beech in the Blackdowns #Fungi #Mushrooms

First Fly Agarics of the year for me, plus some False Deathcap 🍄‍🟫🍄 #Fungi #Mushrooms

Our Orchids of Rhodes tour is the ultimate exploration of the orchid flora of that wonderful Greek island. The 2026 tour has been fully booked since April 2025, and now the first bookings are coming in for the 2027 tour... this one always fills fast! (And donates to support @bsbibotany.bsky.social)

Commitment as in "You should be commited"

For #AnOrchidADay: A sickly yellow White Helleborine, Cephalanthera damasonium probably var. chloritica. From 2018. The plant appeared once since, but the whole wood lost all orchids, White Helleborines and Bird's Nest #Orchids, probably due to snails and slugs in the winter of 2023.

Good morning, and welcome to the weekend! A little #bloomscrolling joy from Cyprus to start the day - island endemic orchids Ophrys kotschyi and Orchis troodi. We see both on our annual Orchids of Cyprus tour - filling up fast now, just 2 places remain to join us there in March 2026. (1/2)

Like all of our botanical tours, Orchids of Cyprus generates a donation to support the fabulous conservation work of @bsbibotany.bsky.social. We've done this since day one of Mariposa's journey - it's important to us, and to our guests alike. (2/2) www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

For #AnOrchidADay: The rarest native Kent #Orchid of them all: Burnt (Tip) Orchid, Neotinea ustulata. One of only three plants that I know of in the county.

"If I were to set out to create my perfect butterfly tour then this would be it" "I have never personally seen so many butterflies in such a short time" "An absolutely fabulous experience" Wonderful guest feedback for Butterflies of the Italian Alps & French Mercantour! (1/2) #butterflies

This seems to be a female Ichneumon extensorius wasp that I found in my back garden today in Wadebridge. There's only 1 prior record for it in Cornwall from 1906, so any knowledgable insect person's input would be most welcome.

Goodyera macrophylla @860m in the Parque Florestal do Fanal, Madeira today, 5/10/2025 🇵🇹 😃

Your guides to a feast of fritillaries and a bonanza of blues will be our popular, knowledgeable, and friendly team of Paul Selby & Michele Viganò. Importantly, like ALL of our butterfly tours, this one generates a donation to support the great work of @europebutterfly.bsky.social. (2/2)

Good morning, and welcome to a new week! Our featured tour this week is Butterflies of the Italian Alps & French Mercantour, a guaranteed departure tour in June 2026 that offers the best of both butterfly worlds on either flank of the mighty Alps. (1/2) mariposanature.com/tours/butter...

Do tell please Jon??

Every one of our butterfly holidays generates a donation to support the superb butterfly conservation work undertaken by @europebutterfly.bsky.social. That matters to us, and we know it matters to our guests too. Our full range of 2026 tours is on our website: (2/2) www.mariposanature.com/calendar

Fancy a relaxing #orchid holiday in 2026, with lots of photographic opportunities, led by friendly & dedicated guides? Two months remain to take advantage of our early bird booking deal, offering £150 off the list price of any week-long tour booked before 1 Dec 2025. (1/2)

That's us heading for home now after a resoundingly successful Autumn Exotica in Andalusia tour, with all the butterfly targets (and a huge bonus!) found, plus some fine dragonflies and birds too. We can't wait to return next year - and hope you might join us. www.mariposanature.com/tours/butter...

Brilliant find Jon 👏 👌

Just three places remain available now to join us next year for our Late Spring Orchids of Sicily tour, led by 'Orchid Summer' author Jon Dunn, and local Sicilian naturalist legend Andrea Corso. As the Sicilians say, amuninni! www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

I can't wait to return to Sicily next spring with my good friend Andrea Corso - the mythical Ophrys lacaitae awaits!

Like ALL our butterfly tours, our current featured tour, Butterflies of North Greece, generates a donation to support @europebutterfly.bsky.social's superb conservation work. Butterfly Conservation Europe have a new website - have a look, and please follow them on here. www.bc-europe.eu/index.php

The "Eye" does it again

The beautiful & rare white Penny Bun - Boletus edulis var. alba, in Somerset 🤍🤩 #Fungi #Mushrooms #MushroomMonday @britmycolsoc.org.uk

In 2nd place, for my #FavouritePlant is Lady Orchid, seen for the first time in Kent in May with @mariposanature.bsky.social. It was such a wonderful day, with fellow guests and leaders proving to be great company. And the orchids were fabulous, but the Lady Orchid stole my heart. #wildflowerhour

Our orchid-hunting tour leaders Jon Dunn, Richard Bate, David Gibbs, Miki Vigano & Andrea Corso have some of the sharpest eyes in the game, and a track record of finding unusual as well as rare orchids in the areas we visit. And you could join them in 2026! www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

My #favouriteplant for #wildflowerhour is probably this Water Germander on Braunton Burrows.

Now, that is more than a bit good!