April has us all aflutter with more beautiful butterflies and moths to look for in our gardens and green spaces 🌷🦋 What have you seen recently?

There's still time to register for our first event! 🎉 What's involved? - Meet the committee - Hear from community science researchers - Have your say in shaping the future of the group More details & registration: www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/buil... @britishecologicalsociety.org

The Big Eight return in April🎱 Of the UK’s 24 bumblebee species, these eight are the most common. This month, some queens will emerge from hibernation. Already active queens will produce their first daughters, the workers💼 Have you spotted your first bumblebee of 2026? 🔎🐝https://ow.ly/SFIl50YAzUL

Welcome to the new season for #pollinator FIT Counts! Our latest e-news was sent out this morning - read it here mailchi.mp/7e658beeba40... and subscribe at ukpoms.org.uk/subscribe As soon as the weather is warm enough we hope that you will enjoy watching and counting insects on flowers with us.

Butterflies are #pollinators and get counted in FIT Counts, and there are some great survey opportunities that focus on butterflies via our friends at @ukbms.bsky.social

Join the Pollinating London Together Annual Meeting on 30 March (5:30–8:30 PM) at Tower Suites. Reflect on the past year, explore 2025 survey findings, hear future plans, and connect with others working for a greener London. Free to attend! More info on the website. #PollinatingLT

Just over two weeks to go before the 2026 FIT Counts for #pollinators start up again ukpoms.org.uk/fit-counts Dandelions are one of the target flowers at the start of the season, often attracting flies and bees

Not long to go now until the Birds in Greenspaces survey starts on 1 April! Sign up to take part at www.bto.org/greenspaces This is a UK-wide survey open to all, whether you are an experienced birder or new to nature!

If you fancy listening to me talking about butterflies, moths and how to help them in your garden, there’s a new podcast from the fabulous folk at Garden Organic www.gardenorganic.org.uk/our-views/th...

Spring is springing! 🙌 More butterflies are beginning to make an appearance, with the first Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) and Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) of 2026 spotted on 25 February. 📷 Photos from archive: Nigel Ball, Anna Wheeler

Join us for the UK Butterfly Recorders Meeting! This free event is perfect for butterfly enthusiasts, taking place online on Sat 28th March. Discover the 2025 UKBMS findings and enjoy insights from leading butterfly experts. Reserve your free spot now! butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/...

Spring is on its way! Look out for these butterflies and moths in your gardens and local green spaces 🦋🌷 What have you seen recently?

March sees the return of bumblebee queens as they emerge from hibernation – here are some of the common species you can spot this month 👀 Have you spotted your first bumblebee of 2026? 🔎 Brush up on your bumblebee identification skills: https://ow.ly/af3U50Yi2iq

As well as the FIT Count survey, we run a more systematic survey using insect traps in a set of 1 km squares across the UK. If you live near one of the red squares on the map and are interested in taking part please contact us for more details ukpoms.org.uk/one-km-squar...

There's less than a month until the start of the 2026 FIT Count season on 1 April! The Flower-Insect Timed Count survey asks you to spend 10 minutes counting all insects that land on a patch of flowers, to help monitor abundance of #pollinators. 🪰🦋🌻🪲🐝 More info at ukpoms.org.uk/fit-counts

A chance to learn more about production of this fabulous new guide to #FliesofBritainandIreland with Steven Falk 👏🪰😊@naturebureau.bsky.social www.nhbs.com/blog/author-...

Just 3 days left to get your hands on a copy of our new guide to #FliesofBritainandIreland at the pre-pub price bit.ly/4dqQI8Z – delivery expected to us by 21 Feb 2026 @rdimond.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social

Happy New Year from the PoMS team! Incase you missed our December newsletter, find it here including: 📊 updates on 2025 surveys 🌼 FIT Count projects (now is the perfect time to sign up for 2026) 🪰🐝🐞 links to a great series of past & upcoming #pollinator themed webinars! mailchi.mp/39d2be14e1f2...

Can you identify UK bumblebees and/or butterflies to a species level in the field? Or do you have strong botanical survey skills (equivalent to FISC Level 4 or higher) with the ability to recognise broad and priority habitats? See great opportunity below & please share!

UKBMS data feeds into UK government statistics to measure biodiversity. Each year, @jncc publish Biodiversity Indicators - giving a snapshot of how our biodiveristy is faring buff.ly/Cw71ZAY You can view the latest Biodiversity Indicators here - buff.ly/cyuIo2G

Is your back garden a pollinator hotspot? 🌸🐝 New research shows flower-rich gardens can be powerful refuges for urban pollinators. Join Emma Plant from @glasgow.ac.uk on 22 Apr 2026 for a FREE entoLIVE to learn more. 🌍 🧪 🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1964456916... @royentsoc.bsky.social #pollinators

Interested in finding out about recording plants in bloom for the #NewYearPlantHunt? Join @bsbibotany.bsky.social for a webinar this evening ⬇️🌼

UK Biodiversity Indicators 2025 are now live jncc.gov.uk/our-work/uk-... With contributions from nearly 100 organisations, they are useful tools for summarising & communicating broad trends 🧵 #TogetherForNature

Exciting NEW PhD just advertised, using @pomscheme.bsky.social data - full details here! ⬇️🐝🪰🐞

Good to have an opportunity to discuss pollinator monitoring and conservation in this context @jncc.bsky.social

Come and work with members of the @pomscheme.bsky.social team on this exciting NEW PhD opportunity! Full details below ⬇️🐝🪰🐞

Great to have featured @pomscheme.bsky.social FIT Counts in the Springline Project. How many pollinators can you spot in this wonderful mural depicting the wildlife and landscapes joining three South Oxfordshire villages?!

Mapping spatial and temporal patterns of pesticide risk to #pollinators and other #inverts across England - I’ve enjoyed working on this important new resource for research into past changes and future risks from @francescamancini.bsky.social and @ukceh.bsky.social 👏 🐝👇

Seen the programme for our #NPMS10 anniversary online event? Join for all or part of the day. Talks by @bsbibotany.bsky.social @plantlifeuk.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @nationaltrust.org.uk @chilternsnl.bsky.social plus talks from our amazing volunteers! ow.ly/xqqf50X4fEE

🧵1/4 ☕️ Your morning coffee depends on pollinators more than you might think. Every day, the world savours more than 2 billion cups of coffee. Yet this daily ritual relies on a hidden workforce: pollinators. Bees, butterflies and countless others ensure that coffee blossoms fulfil their potential.

Unexpected Ashy Mining Bee, Andrena cineraria, today. #Bees #Hymenoptera #VC55

Pollinators such as wild #bees, #butterflies, and #hoverflies are in trouble worldwide. A major new study, published in Science, shows that the oft-quoted figure of 10% semi-natural habitat in farmland landscapes is far too little to safeguard pollinators jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/09/26/p...

Great opportunity to present @pomscheme.bsky.social collaborative research with @sangerinstitute.bsky.social at #BGEconnects. DNA-based transformation will only be possible with continued national-scale sampling, curated archives, data infrastructure and collaboration with taxonomists.

Faded beauty. A few Adonis Blues still going on the Purbeck Ridge yesterday, also great to see the recovery of the food plant Horseshoe Vetch after the drought, which left them shrivelled. In just 3 weeks they are now green and vigorous. @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

Many bumblebee colonies are winding down. New queens are leaving the nest to hibernate, ready to start fresh colonies next spring. Late species like Bombus pascuorum can still be seen foraging into autumn. #PollinatingLT

Only a few tickets left for the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme 50th Anniversary Conference! We're looking forward to celebrating 50 incredible years of butterfly monitoring and volunteer achievement. 🎉🦋 Book your free place 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uk-butterf... #UKBMS50

The @pomscheme.bsky.social recording season ends for the year in one week (30 Sep)! Check the weather conditions where you are before spending 10 minutes watching flowers & insects. If you have ivy flowers in your garden, they are a fantastic target flower right now! ukpoms.org.uk/fit-counts 🐝🧪

The sun is shining in South Oxfordshire, perfect weather for FIT Counts on the Ivy covering our hedgerows! Female Ivy bees busy collecting pollen, not many other insects today. FIT in 😉your last counts before the @pomscheme.bsky.social survey ends on 30 Sept 🐝

Well done to @whitmuir1.bsky.social for completing their fourth PoMS 1km square survey for 2025! It’s looking like a wet week ahead but still time to fit in final surveys before mid-September 🤞🐝

We're on track for our highest ever total of FIT Counts this year 👏🎉 - a huge thank you to everyone taking part 🙏 And there's still a month to go! All counts up to the end of September will add to the data for this year and help us monitor changes in #pollinator numbers.

The latest PoMS e-news went out yesterday, with updates on FIT Counts in 2025; news of a new UK butterfly; research on plants for pollinators; PoMS local projects; & some great forthcoming events. If you missed it you can read it at mailchi.mp/e73193cb8054... & subscribe at ukpoms.org.uk/subscribe

I do love this story - pollinators pathways and more green corridors make a huge difference. So much going on to get #rebuggingtheplanet www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Join us at the UKBMS 50th Anniversary Conference! We can't wait to celebrate this milestone yr 🎂 Join us for a day of butterfly science, celebrations and chatting with other butterfly enthusiasts. Book your free place - www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uk-butterf... Places are limited, book soon! #UKBMS50

Interesting paper using @ukbms.bsky.social data to examine extreme weather impacts on butterfly populations. Winter heatwaves and periods of high rainfall appear bad for many species. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🌍

Yesterday we were out catching and marking pollinators on three rooftops, two of them more than 10 stories high, to see if they were travelling between them! #PollinatingLT

What moths live on farmland? Despite covering 67% of England, farmland is a biodiversity “dark zone”. Discover how AI & citizen science are revealing its hidden moth life in our FREE webinar: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1496618569... @ukceh.bsky.social @abigaillowe.bsky.social @mjopocock.bsky.social

Do you do moth trapping in the UK? We'd love your help! 💡 At @ukceh.bsky.social we're training & testing AI to detect multiple moths in a single image. Send us top-down photos of multiple moths on egg trays to support this work. More info & form: forms.gle/e3HzBPEd7RVV... #mothsmatter #TeamMoth

Some #Speyside finds for #Wildflowerhour Including a few blooms with wee beasties for the #PollinatorPals challenge. @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbiscotland.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social #Moray #VC95

The theme for yesterday's #WildFlowerHour was #PollinatorPals - check the tag for some great examples of pollinators in action, from @wildflowerhour.bsky.social, and if you've enjoyed watching pollinators have a go at counting them with a PoMS FIT Count ukpoms.org.uk/fit-counts