The long-footed fly Syntormon metathesis was a nice find from Burwell Fen, an area of fen restoration adjacent to Wicken Fen NNR. Added to the British list in 2023 from Norfolk and Kent. All known sites are high-quality wetlands, mostly spp-rich fen. Apparently the first record from the Cambs Fens.

It’s great to see lots of new followers & interaction with #wildflowerhour! 🥰 If you are new it’s so easy to join in! Find wild or naturalised blooms (not planted ones) from across Britain & Ireland & share during the magic hour Sunday’s 8-9pm when we have a proper planty party!! 🎉🌿🌸

A few hours around Crowland Abbey, Lincolnshire (last recorded by me in Feb 2015) produced a bunch of new hectad records including Glory-of-the-snow and Grey Field-speedwell in the churchyard - lovely to also find Sweet Violet and Common Lungwort in flower. @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflowerhour

An hour spent recording in West Deeping (VC53) on Wednesday, a particularly raw and grey day - highlights were flowering Butterbur (a scarce species locally) and the distinctive and delicately shaded seedlings of Fern-leaved Corydalis, new to the vice-county #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Starting the year's moth trapping with a pristine Oak Beauty - what a stunner! #mothsmatter #teammoth

A few more spring flowers to brighten up an utterly cold and miserable February day (though all are looking rather rain-speckled) - Early Crocus, Primrose, Winter Aconite and Corsican Hellebore - all found in local churchyards #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Peak snowdrop time in South Lincolnshire and Peterborough - filling churchyards and popping up on lots of country road verges. Straightforward Snowdrop is most frequently encountered, but Greater Snowdrop and Green Snowdrop seem to be increasing locally #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

It's been a while... Yesterday's sunshine tempted me out to record in VC53 - good to see some spring colour, though the highlight was discovering Intermediate Periwinkle established on a road verge in Dunsby, apparently new to Lincolnshire... #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

The diverisity of habitats within Costa Rica is staggering, & our @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social group were able to experience a fantastic sample of them, incl'g Pacific coastal waters & seasonal forest, Caribbean lowland forest, mid & high elevation tropical forests, & the fascinating paramo

We were treated to an amazing spectacle on the Tarcoles River, during the recent @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Costa Rica tour, when our arrival coincided with local fishermen emptying their nets, surrounding them (& us) in a swirling mass of Magnificent Frigatebirds, Brown Pelicans, & Royal Terns

Just back from two weeks guiding on the 2026 @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Costa Rica wildlife tour, with a few of the avian highlights pictured below. Just some of the 260+ bird species we encountered, including 23 species of hummingbird(!), in this fantastically diverse & welcoming country

We were treated to superlative views of both Costa Rican sloth species during the recent @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social tour, but this impeccably groomed female Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth at Baru (alongside her tiny pup, just off camera) was particularly confiding (video taken through 'scope).

Any encounter with an owl, particularly away from known roost sites, is a joy & we were fortunate to record 4 species during the recent @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Costa Rica wildlife tour, incl'g multiple night time Spectacled Owls, as well as this showy Ferruginous Pygmy Owl at Punta Leona

Amphibians were well represented during the recent @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Costa Rica tour, with the group encountering a range of beautiful species during our night time forays, including the iconic Red-eyed Leaf Frog, the burly Cane Toad, & the charming Golden-eyed Tree Frog

The mammal lovers had their fill too during the recent @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Costa Rica tour, encountering White-nosed Coati, Nine-banded Armadillo, Humpback Whale, C.American Agouti, & Proboscis Bat, plus 2 sloth & 3 monkey spp, altho' these amazing views of Tayra definitely stole the show

no botanical trip to South Africa would be complete without some glorious gladioli. which I guess means our tour of the #Drakensberg is nearing completion... (names in alt) #WildlifeTravelling with @sarahlambert7.bsky.social

We've enjoyed a bunch of red hot pokers of the southern Drakensberg over the last couple of days Kniphofia caulescens, a chunky beast up in Lesotho slender K. ichopensis and luminous K. porphyrantha from the Sani Pass & K. laxiflora around Pevensey #BotanicalOverload, with plenty more to come

In today's @theguardian.com country diary, I meet a fellow swimmer better adapted to cold water than I am! #countrydiary #naturewriting

A statement from Wildlife Trust BCN on the future management of Grafham Water Nature Reserve

Huge thanks to 3,652 of you amazing #CitizenScientists who went out hunting for #NewYearPlantHunt! You sent us >25K records of an astonishing 663 different wildflower spp. blooming across Britain & Ireland Headlines in our infographic 👇 More details on our 2026 Results page: bsbi.org/take-part/ac...

Stark and beautiful snow-covered Frampton Marsh NR, where @ckirbylambert.bsky.social and I spent a magical time with a flock of six confiding Snow Buntings last week, watching them fossicking on the strand-line for washed-up seeds. @rspbframptonmarsh.bsky.social @lincswildlife.bsky.social

Introducing Westings Meadow and the Maxey Cut - hyperlocal histories of a long-forgotten 500 year old meadow and its current-day wildlife and restoration. open.substack.com/pub/kathrynp... #WestingsMeadow #MaxeyCut #localhistory

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!

🦅 Learn to ID raptors with Henry Stanier online on 14 Jan! 🌤️ Optional Great Fen walk on 17 Jan. Book here: www.wildlifebcn.org/events/2026-... #RaptorID #Birdwatching

🌿 Youth Rangers of the Fens 🌿 Free conservation skills workshop for ages 11–17 at The Great Fen, Ramsey. 🪚 Tool use 🌳 Tree management 🦋 Fenland wildlife ID 📅 Sat 24 Jan | 10am–1pm 🔗 wildlifebcn.org/events

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

January definitely isn't prime botanising time in Bhutan, but just to show willing... a couple of bizarre members of the Lamiaceae: the nectar-rich shrubby Leucosceptrum canum and the red-flowered vine Holmskioldia sanguinea Buddleja asiatica & Primula denticulata #WildlifeTravelling in #Bhutan

a Bhutanese photographic pheasant phoursome completed this morning with a whole load of Khalij Pheasants feeding (on grit?) at the roadside above Punakha. not at all bad for a "pheasants aren't easy outside of the spring" winter recce suffice to say, we will be back #VisitBhutan with us in 2027

all the #oof used up for today, with a hyperactive group of Fire-tailed Myzornis (Myzornises?) at Latong La, Bhutan well, that's the colour scheme for the spare room sorted! #NotARealJob #BirdsArentReal

Ward's Trogon, a right little weirdo, and haunter of the tall, middle-altitude Quercus lanata forests of Bhutan #VisitBhutan with us in 2027

Bhutan is full of exciting, exotic, near mythical birds: Himalayan Monal, Beautiful Nuthatch, Fire-tailed Myzornis, Ibisbill, Ward's Trogon... but the bird I most wanted to see was this one, White-crested Laughingthrush, a feature of childhood nature books and zoo visits #DreamBird #JobDone

gotta love a funky Dunnock Maroon-backed and Rufous-breasted Accentor both performing magnificently in #Bhutan (I'll let you work out which is which) #FunkyDunnock

A final #NewYearPlantHunt on my birthday round suburban streets of Longthorpe in Peterborough - a much lower total than on previous hunts, with just 37 species but some new including Wild Radish, Oat and the first few flowers of Cut-leaved Dead-nettle. #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

A surprise find while carrying out my final #NewYearPlantHunt of 2026 in Peterborough, a non-flowering specimen of Tree Spinach on an area of disturbed ground resulting from recent road improvements. Seems to be new for VC32 #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Today's journey took us to Phobjikha Valley, home to Hodgson's Wagtail, Royle's Pika, swarms of Plain Mountain-Finches and at least 150 Black-necked Cranes Fingers crossed for closer crane encounters tomorrow... #WildlifeTravelling in #Bhutan #VisitBhutan #BhutanBirdingTours

a covey of 14 Blood Pheasants along the old Pele La road #WildlifeTravelling in #Bhutan

a wing-flicking Wallcreeper, just before lunch road verges are a bit different in Bhutan! #VisitBhutan #WildlifeTravelling in #Bhutan

and I'm not the only one stalking these Bhutan roadsides... came round the corner this morning to see a pack of Dhole, who quickly put some distance between us and the same stretch of road had some very fresh Tiger pug marks #MammalWatching and #WildlifeTravelling in #Bhutan

five minutes from the airport... a bird I first looked for 25 years ago, unsuccessfully, on the Kosi River with @birdingdad.bsky.social something tells me I'm going to enjoy Bhutan!

today we drove east, from Thimphu, the capital, to Bhutan's largest protected wetland, the Phobjikha Valley, via two passes over 3,000m asl, some good looking redstarts and a couple of exciting Himalayan finches #VisitBhutan #BhutanBirdingTours

Bhutan day 4: travelled down from Trongsa into the foothills, spending time with this characterful crew along the way jst in case it hasn't become immediately obvious, we will definitely be bringing a group to #Bhutan. Get your name on the list for spring 2027: you won't regret it! #VisitBhutan

and at last the temperatures rose high enough to get some butterflies on the wing #WildlifeTravelling in #Bhutan #ButterfliesOfBhutan #VisitBhutan with @langurecotravelsbhutan and @tourismbhutan

well there's a thing I never thought I'd see: not one but two Critically Endangered White-bellied Herons, of which perhaps no more than 60 birds exist, and even that is thought to be an optimistic count Bhutan is probably the best last hope for this stately bird #VisitBhutan #BhutanBirdTours

consider that gob well and truly smacked the first thing my guide did when I arrived in Bhutan, was manage my expectations. Spring is the time for pheasants: maybe we will find Blood Pheasant, Kalij perhaps, but for the others... no chance. a male Satyr Tragopan ambling calmly across the road wow

another couple for the Redstart fans White-throated Redstart (hiding his white throat) and Plumbeous Redstart (minus any red at all) Bumthang, Bhutan

An impressive nineteen people braved bitter cold to take part in the Lincs Flora Group #NewYearPlantHunt in Lincoln. We recorded 67 species including some unusual ones such as Tansy, Yellow-flowered Strawberry and Hollyhock. A fun and productive day! @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Limbering up today with a solo @bsbibotany.bsky.social #NewYearPlantHunt round urban Peterborough. A respectable 52 species recorded, but some species strangely absent. A good range of Geranium and Senecio seen as well as a surprise record of Cynoglossum amabile. Lincoln group hunt tomorrow!

How lovely to see the small-leaved lime in today's @theguardian.com country diary by @sarahlambert7.bsky.social #countrydiary #naturewriting

The final day of the @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Cyprus trip found us wending our way down from the Smygies ridge to the coast meeting new plants on the way including Sedum cyprium, Muscari inconstrictum, Hemionitis acrostica and Ophrys omegaifera ssp. israelitica. A perfect finale…

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