As there's an #orchid theme going on this evening, I thought I'd share four stunning species seen on the recent @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Transylvania holiday that I led - intensely purple Green-winged-orchid, Three-toothed Orchid, Monkey Orchid and a very stately Sword-leaved Helleborine

For the #wildlowerhour #OrchidChallenge orchids seen on an early morning walk to Castor Hanglands NNR, including Early Marsh-orchid, Common Spotted-orchid and a couple from the infinitely variable hybrid swarm...with an accompanying soundtrack of Nightingales... @bsbibotany.bsky.social

A very hot field trip with the Lincs Flora Group to Swinstead Valley yesterday - some great limestone grassland with Purple Milk-vetch, Horseshoe Vetch and Crested Hair-grass, plus a strong population of Stinking Chamomile in an arable field headland... #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

So happy to see that Turtle Doves have once again safely returned to the Maxey Cut and its surrounding landscape of former gravel workings that now support a rich mix of open water, flowery grassland, reed beds, scrub and willows... www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Delighted to see the Swaddywell NR Man Orchids flowering this weekend - fewer in number than in 2025, and generally rather smaller in size, but just as characterful... #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social #orchids

Two local members of the carrot family seen yesterday - delicate Pignut seen at Castor Hanglands NR and the ever-delightful Cow Parsley which is abundant everywhere at the moment... #wildflowerhour #carrotsandpeas @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Common Vetch flowering well round Peterborough this weekend, along with Bush Vetch and Bird's-foot-trefoil - for the #wildflowerhour #carrotsandpeas challenge... @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Ampedus quercicola new to our Peterborough garden today. A local saproxylic species, usually found as singletons, there were at least 5, but maybe up to 20, flying about and landing in a Purple Toadflax - presumably there was a female emitting pheremones nearby... Wonderful to see! #beetles

A few non-botanical highlights from a splendid family weekend away in the Forest of Dean - a feisty Firecrest, a perky Pied Flycatcher, a watchful Wild Boar and a duo of Mandarin drakes.

Top urban botanist Trevor Dines is leading an Urban Plants Walk this weekend in Oban - sign up now! The sea front is one of the finest urban nature walks around, Black Guillemots popping out of the drainage holes in the sea wall to see how many cool plants you’ve spotted 😍😁

Highlight of the day was visiting my local population of Green-winged Orchids, looking stunning in the afternoon sun. Good to see their numbers are gradually increasing thanks to careful management by @wildlifebcn.org @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflowerhour #orchids

A surprising assemblage of rare and local plants from regularly mown grassland on Peterborough Embankment. A population of >5000 Mousetail in winter-flooded hollows plus a scatter of Bird's-foot Clover. Drier areas with 1000's of Small-flowered Buttercup... @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflowerhour

Defying both intense rabbit grazing and lack of rain, a wide range of low-growing flowers have emerged from the mossy sward at Stonepit Close (VC32), including a good population of Small-flowered Buttercup... All names in ALT #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildlifebcn.org

The Herb-paris colony in Old Sulehay Forest (VC32) is now in full flower, brought on by a week of sunshine. It's always exciting to find this rare, ancient-woodland species... #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Found a good stand of Smith's Pepperwort Lepidium heterophyllum on the outer bank of the Maxey Cut this morning, showing its very red anthers nicely. A rare species in Northamptonshire (VC32) with only two post-2000 sites... #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Our local Enclosure Act hedgerows are now thick with heavily scented Hawthorn flowers and edged with lacy Cow Parsley - while sprawling Greater Stitchwort is largely confined to relict pre-enclosure hedges, which sometimes also support scattered Bluebells #wildflowerhour #hedgerowchallenge

while the plants have been amazing in #Crete, the birds have been pretty good too Little & Spotted Crakes appeared in a ditch before breakfast, 30 White Storks just flew north, Red-footed & Eleonora's Falcons, daily flocks of Golden Orioles & Bee-eaters... migration is all go! #WildlifeTravelling

getting giddy on the bumps, on the first day of our return to Crete orchids, orchids everywhere Orchis italica, Naked Man Orchid Ophrys tenthredinifera, Sawfly Orchid Ophrys cretica, Cretan Bee Orchid Anacamptis boryi #WildlifeTravelling in #Crete

day 4 of our Crete trip began with a staggering 14 (!!) Golden Orioles in a mulberry tree continued with Cretan Wall Lizards getting jiggy, the stunning Orobanche lavandulacea and a sultry Eleonora's Falcon at Aptera & ended with Nathusius's Pipistrelles by the pool #WildlifeTravelling in #Crete

a day for the botany nerds amongst us the tiny Muscari cf heldreichii, perhaps an as-yet-undescribed endemic the critically endangered, endemic Salix kaptarae, described as recently as 2019 and the iconic Tulipa saxatilis up on the Omalos plateau. #WildlifeTravelling in #Crete

#WildlifeMaxxing at it's Cretan best today, with Griffons overhead, Cretan Festoon along the track sides, and amazing wild flowers, including two very localised endemics: Dianthus xylorrhizus and Centaurea redempta subsp redempta #WildlifeTravelling with @sarahlambert7.bsky.social

from the hilltops, we dropped down to the beach, to "admire" the critically endangered Colchicum reichingeri, a December-flowering geophyte found at just a handful of coastal locations in western Crete and across in Libya #WildlifeTravelling in #Crete

a couple of gory highlights from our sunny day on the Akrotiri peninsula, in the fleshy form of Cytinus hypocistis, (ant-pollinated, parasite & member of the Rafflesiaceae) & the always wonderful Dragon Arum, filling the hillsides with the aroma of rotting sheep... #WildlifeTravelling in #Crete

We're looking to recruit a manager for 2 fabulous botanical projects in Ireland: #AquaticPlantProject #IrishGrasslandProject You'll be coordinating expert-led field events & developing training materials for botanists at all skill levels. 2 days per week. Apply by 25 May: bsbi.org/about/news/l...

Find a flower with 4 free petals arranged in a cross shape & you’ve found a member of the Brassicaceae! It’s a huge family & the challenge this week for #Wildflowerhour is to find a wild or naturalised member of the #CabbageFamily in flower. Share your finds this Sunday 8-9pm!

Still low numbers of moths, but today was about quality rather than quantity, with the first ever Pine Cone Tortrix Gravitarmata margarotana in our Peterborough (VC32) garden trap. A recent arrival to the UK (2011) with no obvious records nearby #mothsmatter #teammoth @markhammond1966.bsky.social

On a breezy April afternoon, in the midst of John Clare Countryside, a Nightingale, hidden in the heart of a Hawthorn bush, pours out its song… #johnclarecountryside #birds

Along the Nene valley, Crack Willows are smothered with golden catkins, the first Cuckooflowers are in bloom on the river margin and tall spikes of Meadow Foxtail have appeared - spring has definitely arrived... #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

An early evening walk from home to a small fragment of flood meadow by the River Nene where Fritillary has flowered for at least the last 16 years. Numbers are very low this year, but I was pleased to find a couple of nice clumps. #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

First British orchid of the year for me - a perfect Early Purple-orchid in its usual location at Bedford Purlieus NNR - it gave much joy to my trainee botanists who'd never seen one before :) #WoodlandPlants #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

A quartet of white (or nearly white) #WoodlandPlants seen at Thorpe Wood NR early this morning, while recording breeding birds - Crab-apple, Hedge Garlic, Midland Hawthorn and Ramsons, which is spreading rapidly into areas fromerly dominated by Bluebell... #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

#WoodlandPlants seen on a walk I led at Collyweston Great Wood NNR yesterday - perfectly timed for peak Bluebell - other highlights included Toothwort, masses of Wood Spurge and a colony of Wood-sorrel growing in the middle of the access track! Names in ALT #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Found a magnificent stand of Caucasian Comfrey (new to VC32) yesterday while surveying a churchyard in Etton, its clear blue flowers attracting a whole range of pollinators. The caterpillar of a Scarlet Tiger moth was also enjoying the bristly leaves! #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

What can you find flowering in woodland? That’s the challenge this week from Wildflowerhour! Post your finds using the hashtag #WoodlandPlants for #WildflowerHour this Sunday 8-9pm. Happy flower-hunting!

Two early-flowering species of acid woodland seen this week - the delicate star-like flowers of Hairy Wood-rush growing close to the even more understated flowers of Pill Sedge #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

It's always a treat to come across wild flowering Redcurrant, a species of damp woodland, part of a huge thicket growing on seasonally flooded silts alongside a spring-fed limestone stream in Bedford Purlieus NNR. Such strange flowers with anthers like tiny dog bones... #wildflowerhour

A couple of non-native species recorded from Morkery Wood (VC53) at the start of the week - Summer Snowflake (first recorded in 2006) and Ashleaf Maple, an American species, presumably planted - last recorded there in 30 years ago... #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Two very understated and often overlooked species seen at Barnack Hills and Holes yesterday - Little Mouse-ear and Lesser Chickweed - both in flower (though the chickweed flowers have no petals). Winter annuals that thrive in dry, open-structured habitats #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

A good week for the #wildflowerhour #cowslipchallenge- flowering well at Bedford Purlieus NNR, Barnack Hills and Holes NNR and in our wild garden...plus one at Barnack with some Primrose genes in its pedigree @bsbibotany.bsky.social

On an overcast and breezy afternoon the first Pasqueflowers of the year were unfurling at Barnack Hills and Holes NNR, their purple petals backed with soft silvery hairs, the blooms emerging from a finely dissected, downy, purplish-green ruff. #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Unfurling leaves of Large-leaved Lime at Bedford Purlieus NNR, clothed with silvery hairs, with distinctive raised veins on the underside of the leaf. Often planted, this huge coppice stool is probably native here and grows with abundant Small-leaved Lime. @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflowerhour

Despite a coolish night, a few more species in the moth trap this morning including a Brindled Beauty, two very fresh Red-green Carpets and, most surprisingly, our earliest ever Pale Prominent, all new for the year. #mothsmatter #teammoth

two wildlife-packed weeks in Cyprus comes to an end a rarity-packed 1st half brought us Namaqua Dove, Desert Finch, Isabelline Shrike & Caspian Stonechats then a 2nd half filled w/ flitting Ficedula a new dot on the map for Kotschy's Orchid was a plant highlight, & Purple Marbled was a dream moth

all three Cypriot endemic birds singing within walking distance of our hotel today, along with 23 orchid taxa, ace #MothBreakfast, at least 20 B&W flycatchers (3+ Semicollared amongst them), another reeling Savi's Warbler, & 10+ Cretzschmar's Buntings #WildlifeTravelling in #Cyprus #CyprusBirds

a proper wagtail pick and mix this afternoon at Mandria beach, with Grey-headed thunbergi, Blue-headed flava and Black-headed feldegg, all busy feeding up before they fan out across Europe #WildlifeTravelling in #Cyprus #CyprusBirds

we started the day looking through a fence at Tulipa agenensis and finished it off looking through a fence at Spur-winged Lapwing #WildlifeTravelling in #Cyprus

Moschatel flowering at Morkery Wood (VC53) yesterday morning, with telia of Puccinia adoxae on it leaves. Part of a formerly large population, I was sad to see that much of its woodland habitat had been recently felled in a very heavy-handed way... @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflowerhour

moth breakfast, nom nom nom Eutelia adulatrix, the blue-eyed flatterer™, in all her crunchy glory, thanks to @jameslowenwild.bsky.social and his trust actinic #WildlifeTravelling in #Cyprus

when the garden is home to 2 Semicollared and 3 Collared Flycatchers, Wood Warbler and Great Reed Warbler, Cyprus and Isabelline Wheatear, it's hard to tear yourself away... but glad we did, to enjoy the Little Crakes and Great Spotted Cuckoos around Agia Varvara today #CyprusBirds

Brilliant idea from @cubotanicgarden.bsky.social