Annual pilgrimage to count Fritillaria meleagris at Aubert Ings SSSI, Cattal where it appeared c25 years ago. Numbers now c250. Tulipa sylvestris seems to be spreading too as has the statuesque Heracleum mategazzianum which is now well established all along the River Nidd downstream of Knaresborough

I see they’re selling straitjackets on Amazon. Nn.

Nice to find the beautiful Dead-nettle Leaf Beetle (Chrysolina fastuosa) today in NE Shropshire #Coleoptera #Chrysomelidae

can't say I usually enjoy a whimsical shop sign but credit where credit's due, this made me laugh when I walked past earlier:

Has anyone been to Taiwan and see Grass Owl or Tawny Fish owl? Trying to source some gen! Any help appreciated :)

Gold on the beach! Some Cassida nobilis from Chesil Beach at Abbotsbury yesterday.

Why is contributing to Wikipedia important for conservation? 🌏 Register to attend our webinar "Earth Day, Every Day: Preserving Biodiversity on Wikipedia" next Wednesday, April 15 to find out! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Thanatosis is the art of playing dead. Beautifully demonstrated by this fungus weevil, Platyrhinus resinosus. #Beetle #Coleoptera #MacroPhotography

The variety of German bees before the Industrial Revolution (187, top) vs after the introduction of pesticides (43, bottom), DHM

Does anyone know the story of the thicket of yew trees on a slope between Hod Hill and Hambledon Hill in Dorset? How widespread would yews once have been here? Why was this remnant not felled?

A wonderful day of orchid-hunting with my good friend @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social and our @mariposanature.bsky.social #OrchidsOfRhodes group, filled with terrific finds: many Ophrys halia, and a couple of lovely, rare Ophrys x ionica hybrids particular personal highlights among many enjoyed by us all.

I have Lasgerdi Mashhad apricots for the first time... i can't belive! 🤩 Lasgerdi Mashhad - Very sweet, structured and juicy with peachy - flowery flavor.

Male Early Mining Bees (Andrena haemorrhoa) quartering the grass. Hairy-footed Flower Bees (Anthophora plumipes) with their high-pitched buzz. Small green metallic Lasioglossum (Lasioglossum morio) excavating in the earth & Yellow-legged Mining Bees (Andrena flavipes) @norfolknats.bsky.social

Lilioceris lilii (Scopoli, 1763), Scarlet Lily Beetle. photo taken in June, by which time it has shredded most of your precious things in the lily family time to begin surveillance

Lovely as it is, this is the one that introduced Lily Beetle to my garden Fritillaria meleagris

Lesser Celandine, Ficaria verna, once it starts it goes on and on

If you're in need of a bit of color this morning, here's a metallic green sweat bee who wants all the pollen. Anza-Borrego Desert, California. #Bugsky 🌿🐙🐝🌼

Leonora Carrington, Apr 6, 1917 - May 25, 2011 Leonora Carrington, British-Mexican (1917-2011), Peek-A-Boo, 1961, oil on canvas, 99.6 X 79.7 cm, private collection

This is the so-called Cortés map of Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Mexica people which sits on the site of Mexico City today. It is the first known image of the great city of Moctezuma and dates to 1524, just a handful of years after its capture by Cortes & his conquistadors. 🏛️📷 Newberry Library

Gum Rockrose (Cistus ladanifer) can cover whole hillsides in southern Portugal, a striking sight with its large white flowers. Resins and oils used in cosmetics, perfumery and medicine can be extracted from it. However, as a highly fire-adapted species it's often indicative of over-burning.

NHS staff pushback against Palantir highlights a crucial tension: when frontline workers question both the ethics and utility of surveillance tech in healthcare. Their resistance shows how institutional adoption doesn't guarantee user acceptance. #AcademicSky #technology theregister.com/2026/0...

I have published books before, but never have I worked with press with such capacious reach! Editorial, marketing, administrative folks are all so impressive. I could not be happier to have devoted so much to a project that has been handled with such care. #booksky #academicsky #comics #illustration

made in Iran

Tour update 🚨 Just two of the many faces Ophrys cretica presents here in the orchid wonderland that's the #OrchidsOfRhodes tour. Speaking of twos, two more places have been taken this evening on the second week we're running in March 2028. See you there! #bloomscrolling (1/2)🧵

Cramp-ball Fungus Weevil (Platyrhinus resinosus). I found five of these stunning weevils today in Long Melford, Suffolk. As their common name suggests, they feed on Cramp-ball fungus.

Salad Burnet Rust (Phragmidium sanguisorbae) on... surprise, surprise: Salad Burnet (Poterium sanguisorba subsp. sanguisorba) from County Durham Too late for #WildWebsWednesday but just in time for #FungiFriday

Primrose (Primula vulgaris) still looking 💯 in County Durham at the moment. #WildflowerHour

One of the glorious cowslips thriving in our hay meadow. These will always be known as ‘Bob’s Cowslips’, as they were originally a gift from my mate Bob. Thanks Bob! #cowslipchallenge #wildflowerhour

Sadly, i’ve not had much time for botanising this week with lots of end-of-term egg hunts & collecting my daughter from uni. Happily there were a few Cowslips tucked in amongst my local Primroses plus their hybrid love child, the False Oxlip, Primula x polyantha💛 #CowslipChallenge #wildflowerhour

Bulbous buttercups by the A10 in Ely. #WildflowerHour

@botanicalmartin.bsky.social Dr Joanna Francis was a heroine of mine, her work also very much celebrated and appreciated here: www.nature.scot/doc/naturesc...

It may be useful to revisit the sterling work of the late Dr Joanna Francis concerning roadside wildflowers ; www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/dmrb/vol10/s... USE OF WOODLAND HERBACEOUS PLUG PLANTS FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF FIELD LAYERS IN ESTABLISHING PLANTATIONS. studylib.net/doc/5906886/...

Cowslips growing on the road verge of the A1(M) on nutrient-poor soil, and in richer soil nearby where they form much bigger plants with more flowers but never seem to spread as well as on poorer soil #WildflowerHour #CowslipChallenge

Following on from last week's #treeflowers for #WildflowerHour here's Wild Pear (Pyrus pyraster subsp pyraster) in #Essex

Primroses in the sunshine. We all need a bit of sunshine to light us up now and then. #WildflowerHour

For this week's #WildflowerHour #CowslipChallenge, here is a comparison of Cowslip and Oxlip. Taken on the same day at an ancient Cambs. woodland this week. I posted an Oxlip photo in the British Wildflowers FB group, and many commented that they were Cowslips! @wildflowerhour.bsky.social

Blue Moor-grass (Sesleria caerulea) looking like it's ready a night on the town. I honestly don't believe someone doesn't go around touching up the makeup before I visit. #WildflowerHour

50% there for the #CowslipChallenge - False Oxlip (Primula x polyantha) #WildflowerHour

Hairy Violet (Viola hirta) growing amongst Common Rock-rose #WildflowerHour today in the Yorkshire Dales

A Wood Anemone, Anemone nemerosa, in the village woods this afternoon. #wildflowerhour

Anemoides ranunculoides, Buttercup Anemone. Also naturalised in my garden. The Olds will remember this as Anemone ranunculoides. And perhaps also know it as a parent of the delicately lovely, A. x lipsiensis (A. nemorosa x A. ranunculoides) with pale, creamy yellow flowers. #WildflowerHour

Some of the offspring of my wild-collected Primula veris, Cowslip, have been heavily fasciated. The cause unknown, since I never use herbicide, which is one of the common causes of fasciation. #WildflowerHour #CowslipChallenge

Primula veris L., Cowslip. Now naturalised in my garden from seed, wild collected in 2014. I can show you exactly where. It has proved vigorous and very fertile, and its offspring are legion. #WildFlowerHour #CowslipChallenge

Want a more challenging Egg Hunt? Try arthropod eggs! Can you spot the Green Lacewing egg on this still-closed head of a Queen Anne's Lace flower? #inverts #becurious

Tired of the old "elf on a shelf" nonsense? Canada GOTCHU.