This male kingfisher brightened up an otherwise dull and overcast day on the saltmarsh last week at a regular wintering spot. #birds

It’s hard to enjoy life when there is so much at stake for our wildlife 😫 Developers will soon legally destroy endangered species. Stop it before it becomes law. Email your MP today using this link action.wildlifetrusts.org/page/180301/...

Your regular reminder that by throwing away nature, we throw away *everything*.

Colours of the bog part 4: Vibrant red and gold of alpine bearberry leaves and pale green tufts of fir clubmoss #bogs #bogplants

Teach it all, the contradictions, scandals, adventures, violence, connections and complexity. And stop seeing it entirely through the prism of feeling.

The new Red List for Vascular Plants published this week by @bsbibotany.bsky.social highlights the serious decline in Britain’s freshwater plants.

Please also report dead or sick birds to BirdTrack via www.birdtrack.net for monitoring purposes. Please share this message far and wide with friends and birding communities. Thank you.

The world’s first trillionaire initiated a move that has left more than half a million people dead, most of whom are children.

Colours of the bog part 3: gold-tipped grasses in the morning sun and a curled up fox moth caterpillar #bogs

Colours of the bog part 2: the wine-red buds of bog myrtle in autumn. This has to be one of my favourite plants, although its wonderful aroma is sadly not as strong at this time of year #bogs #bogplants

Colours of the bog part 1: the rhubarb and custard perfection of various Sphagnum mosses, offset by pale green strands of lichen They may be on a much smaller scale scale than autumnal deciduous trees, but the colours are as stunning #bogs #bogcolours

If I have to explain to you why this young fellow who dedicates his time to sharing the wonders of #astronomy to all-comers for free is exactly the type of person the U.S. needs more of, I honestly don't think anything I say in attempting to do so would make a difference.

My latest Bird of the Month post focuses on the kestrel, once the UK's commonest raptor, now displaced by the buzzard. Sadly, this lovely little falcon is no longer a familiar sight hovering over road verges and fields. Find out more over on my blog #birds birdsbloomsandbumbles.com/bird-of-the-...

Staying on South Uist last week we discovered our accommodation was on the daily commute route of at least two white-tailed eagles. Amazing to not even have to leave the house to see these flying barn doors! #birds #eagles

Farage, who was paid £189,000 in January to promote gold bullion in his spare time, is currently wanging on about how out of touch the Labour frontbench is. Ok

Pine martens are such gorgeous little animals, and as omnivores perform a great range of vital roles within the forest ecosystems that are their home, acting as predators, scavengers, seed dispersal agents, and more. Their name in Irish is 'an cat crainn' – the tree cat.

Another set of fungi, these disintegrating much faster than the fly agarics I posted earlier. Shaggy inkcaps must be one our most ephemeral fungi, looking substantial and solid one day and a gloopy black mess the next. I love going back to see them over a few days. #fungi #inkcaps

It's been a good year in my neck of the woods (ahem) for fly agaric fungi. As well as the classic red and white fresh fruiting bodies, I also love the pale cream disintegrating older specimens #fungi

This lovely otter lives just a few miles from where I live in Easter Ross and I was chuffed to see it last week at a spot I've seen lots of spraint at but never the animal in question before! #otters #mustelids #mammals

Under the current criminalisation of protest, even the famous campaigners that we celebrate in the UK would be at risk of arrest simply for peacefully protesting. The right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy; we cannot allow its restriction to go unchallenged.

Looking up into the crown of a much-loved ancient Small-leaved Lime coppice stool in Old Sulehay Forest on a gloomy grey day, the remaining leaves gradually changing from green to clear-yellow. @wildlifebcn.org #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Once you legitimise discrimination and hate-speech against one minority group, you open the floodgates for bigotry against all minorities.

🦇 Amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill are likely to be discussed @houseoflords.parliament.uk today. The Bill ignores and disregards the need for evidence and will not benefit the economy, our natural heritage or society. Updated briefing here:

Saw some cracking fungi this week for #wildfungihour I'm not very good at fungi ID, but these may be wood blewit (purple one) and shaggy parasol... #wildflowerhour @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

BBC's Highland Cops programme features investigation into shot out Goshawk nest in Cairngorms National Park raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/10/24/b...

Female kingfisher in the rain, Inverness #birds

I HATE IT A pointless but utterly destructive decoration. Why do our human festivities have to result in fatalities in other biota? #hallowean

Some footage of one of three dippers seen on the River Ness on Tuesday #birds

What's better than seeing a dipper on the river? Seeing 3! I spent a wonderful morning yesterday watching 3 different birds in Inverness #birds

Conor McGregor sexually assaulted a woman in a hotel. At the time, I didn't see gangs of angry people trying to burn down boxing rings or ban MMA fighters from entering the country. Maybe because the riots last night in Dublin weren't about the victim but about racism and right-wing nationalism.

Please sign and share the petition petition.parliament.uk/petitions/72...

Al9ng with my first patch little egret, I saw my first redwing of the autumn today #birds #autumn

Disney tried to take legal action over this sketch. Alexie and his producer nervously went to meet an austere senior legal lady at the BBC. She read the letter and then watched the sketch on tape. Her opinion: 'Fuck them, we're the BBC' and she sorted it all out. Oh for balls that big in 2025.

There are still some aster flowers hanging in there for the pollinators #invertebrates 🌿 #SmallBeauties #BloomScrolling

Little egrets may have spread rapidly across England since first breeding in 1996, but in neighbouring Scotland, they are much less common. I was today years old when I saw my first Highland bird, and on my own patch, as well! #herons #egrets #birds

Great news!

"We can’t say it strongly enough: for planning reform to succeed for both people and nature, this newt-bashing, snail-baiting, spider-hating scapegoating must stop." @richardbenwell.bsky.social, chief exec @wclnews.bsky.social, outlines what's needed to create balance between nature and planning:

www.theguardian.com/environment/... Thanks to Labour's nonsense rhetoric on nature 'blocking' development, this is going to happen more and more

A last, hidden self heal bloom on the lane near home #wildflowerhour @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

This lovely herd of common seals was hauled out on the side of the River Thurso last week. As the tide came in, they one by one started to yawn and shift before moving back out to sea #seals #mammals

What a wonderful way to use pressed leaves... 🍁 🍃 🍂 Leafwork Landscape - by Galloway artist, Jennie Ashmore More of this artist's fabulous work, here: www.leafworks.co.uk #art #landscapes #Pressedleaves #collage

Yellow stagshorn fungi for #BlueSkyArtShow #Vertical

#NoKings Miami!

All the different shades, all the races, all the religions, all the cultures added together, mixed in a melting pot, to make this beautiful land, even more beautiful! This is what makes me proud to be British!

I've signed - please, will you? c.org/j7RdyM9srW

And if you’re wondering who Labour is listening to? “Reeves boasted she hatched plan to rip down our nature protections over a “smoked salmon & scrambled eggs breakfast” with corporate lobbyists”. While Starmer’s resolve to kick down planning rules are result of his “conversations with leading CEOs”

My second blog post after returning to the fray focuses on the importance of the humble pond. Even small ponds can be hugely important for freshwater biodiversity. They are also a fab way to get pretty much anyone into nature #ponds #pondlife birdsbloomsandbumbles.com/an-introduct...

It's been a late start this year with the dry weather but the grassland fungi are finally appearing. I'm going to post a waxcap species each day as we move through peak fruiting season, hoping to encourage folks to recognise and record this important group. @plantlifeuk.bsky.social

Letter to the editor: £5bn over ten years to “restore pride” in Britain’s poorest areas? That’s less than the EU, in its time, gave us every year. Ambitious? Hardly.