🍃We are attending the annual Nature Fair again held by Wild Tilehurst this Sat, Jan 10th 2026, 2-4pm at the Methodist Church Hall, School Road, Tilehurst. It was a great success last year with a number of local conservation and wildlife groups attending - come along and see what's on offer!

Why not start the year by joining the free @biologicalrecording.co.uk entoLIVE webinars  on invertebrates?  Join the next one this Wed "Innovative Moth Monitoring: Farmer Citiizen Science Using AI”. Find out more:

New year new square? Skill up for the 2026 season with our Intro to NPMS Survey & Methodology online Zoom webinar 8th January 12.30 - 14.00 great for a skills refresh or as an intro to the scheme for new volunteers. https://ow.ly/4TAV50XRSjC 📸Ros Walters

Day 12 of 12 Days Of Noticing Nature: Deer! 🦌   For our final challenge, see if you can spot and record a Deer — maybe not a Reindeer, but maybe a Roe, Fallow, or Muntjac.   Use our simple recording form, https://f.mtr.cool/ljdsajorwe or submit your records on iRecord.

Day 11 of 12 Days Of Noticing Nature: Pine Cones! 🌲   Not just festive decorations, they are an important source of food for birds during the winter such as Woodpeckers and Crossbills.   Record it at https://f.mtr.cool/raodnauxyb or on iRecord.   #12DaysOfNoticingNature

Day 10 of 12 Days Of Noticing Nature: Winter Insects! 🐛🦋 Winter might seem quiet for insects, but some species are still active! One to look out for is the December Moth, a big, brown, furry moth that flies from October to January.    Record it at https://f.mtr.cool/nphjvnvcud or on iRecord.

Day 9 of 12 Days Of Noticing Nature: Wren! 🎄   This tiny bird is one of the UK’s smallest but don’t let its size fool you — wrens have a surprisingly loud and powerful song.   Use our simple recording form, https://f.mtr.cool/qmjxqcbbeb or submit your records on iRecord.  #12DaysOfNoticingNature

Day 8 of 12 Days Of Noticing Nature: Animal Tracks 🎄🐾   Winter is the perfect time to spot footprints. You might be able to see the signs of fox, badger, rabbit, deer and squirrel (amongst others).   Record it at https://f.mtr.cool/qhlmgxurjr or on iRecord.   #12DaysOfNoticingNature

Day 7 of 12 Days Of Noticing Nature: Winter Thrushes! 🎄🐦   Redwing or Fieldfare are migratory thrushes that you might find in berry-laden hedgerows.   Use our simple recording form, https://f.mtr.cool/fljxqgzxsd or submit your records on iRecord.

Day 6 of 12 Days Of Noticing Nature: Mistletoe! 🌿   More than just a Christmas decoration, Mistletoe is relatively easy to find on the branches of trees; nevertheless, from a distance, this species can be confused with other natural features such as witches’ broom, rooks’ nests and squirrels’ dreys.

Day 5 of 12 Days Of Noticing Nature: Squirrel!🎄🐿️   You can find the Grey Squirrel darting across a park, leaping between trees, or even visiting a bird feeder!   Use our simple recording form, https://f.mtr.cool/xutmrdyzac or submit your records on iRecord.  #12DaysOfNoticingNature

Day 4 of 12 Days Of Noticing Nature: Winter Trees🌳   Without leaves, trees may be trickier to ID but look out for some key feat features like leaf buds, bark textures, and silhouettes. https://f.mtr.cool/shbdxdxivw   Let us know what you spot: https://f.mtr.cool/ubwournfds

Day 3 of 12 Days Of Noticing Nature: Holly 🎄🌿   Holly isn't just festive decor but it's a vital food source for wildlife too! Found across the UK, its red berries nourish birds and small mammals through winter. Have you spotted any on your walks?   #12DaysOfNoticingNature

Day 2 of 12 Days of Noticing Nature: Winter Fungus!🎄🍄 Look for winter fungus like: ✨ King Alfred’s Cakes: a common fungus found on dead wood (and with a cake-themed name, it’s perfect for the season!). ✨ Scarlet Elf Cup: harder to find but more spectacular… and definitely not the elf on the shelf!

Day 1 of 12 Days of Noticing Nature: Robin! 🎄🐦 Kick off the festive season by finding and recording the first Robin you see today.  Use our simple recording form, https://f.mtr.cool/jqdnbyurcr or submit your records on iRecord.  #12DaysOfNoticingNature #WinterWildlife

While blackcaps are typically summer visitors to our shores, these distinctive warblers have increasingly been seen around gardens in the UK from November to March.

A very a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the TVERC team! 🎄   A huge thanks to everyone who takes their time submitting their sightings across Berkshire and Oxfordshire!       📷We almost managed to get the whole team in the photo!

Join our 12 Days of #NoticingNature challenge this festive season! Each day, we’ll share easy ways to connect with wildlife, from spotting robins to finding fungi. Starting Christmas Day, we’ll share each daily challenge on our social media channels. Follow along and join in!

This very timid but curious solo otter was spotted by Danny yesterday in Caversham. Have you seen any otters recently? Let us know if you spot any in #Berkshire or #Oxfordshire! https://tverc.org/recorders/share-your-records

Day 12 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. White-legged Damselfly lives in slow-flowing rivers. This one was by the Thames at Goring in June. When mature he'll be pale blue. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @tverc1.bsky.social

Day 13 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. My favourite species, Banded Demoiselle. At Goring by the Thames in early June. Males make beautiful display flights over slow rivers & streams. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @tverc1.bsky.social

Have you checked out our 4th edition of the popular Field Guide to the Smaller Moths of Great Britain and Ireland yet? Free to download in 3 digital formats!

Join the upcoming @inaturalist.bsky.social ID-a-thon event - to help identify iNaturalist observations! Improve your identification skills, discover new species and contribute to citizen science, all in your own time!

🌱 Take part in the #NewYearPlantHunt! 🌱 Discover how you can join @bsbibotany.bsky.social  in this #citizenscience activity and help scientists understand how our wild plants respond to a changing climate in this online webinar, Tuesday 16th December at 7pm:

Calling all #nature lovers! 🐦🌳Sign up to the #Birds in Greenspaces newsletter for updates on this project that starts next spring, and see our FREE Resource Pack with bird ID guides and activities to warm you up this winter at www.bto.org/greenspaces Nuthatch by @willrose.bsky.social

🌿This year, we surveyed 38 #LocalWildlifeSites (LWS) in Oxfordshire, including visits to Wigwell in West Oxon, an ancient woodland site in South Oxon, a calcareous grassland site in Vale of White Horse and an area of lowland hay meadow in Cherwell. Find out more: tverc.org/tverc-news/2...

🦋 Our data manager has been busy searching the tiny eggs of the Brown Hairstreak butterfly at Otmoor and Milham Ford Nature Park. From initially spotting just one egg back in 2020 at Milham Ford, this year she found a total of 116 eggs! Read more: https://f.mtr.cool/nsjdpfsobh

Just a reminder that this talk will be happening this evening, we hope to see you there!

Old grassland can be botanically common place but may hide rare #fungi, if only you could look at it at the right few days in autumn. Here two tiny brown caps of the New To Britain (by DNA at Kew) Pulverulina praticola on 23.10.2025. In Oxford on mown grassland on calc. clay. #fungifriends

If you have a project that can benefit from additional equipment or funds to enhance voluntary recording in Berks or Oxon, our Recording Grant with Trust for Oxfordshire's Environment may help! If you are interested in applying: https://f.mtr.cool/hivucadewz

🌳It’s #NationalTreeWeek, marking the start of the winter planting season!  Make sure to check out The Tree Council programme, with events lined up over the course of the week and other resources:

❄️It’s definitely been chilly this week! What have you been spotting this week? Angus spotted this little Wren in Wokingham- maybe practicing some ice skating?

🌸Early bird tickets for our TVERC Spring Recorders’ Conference are now available! The day will focus on Nature & Data: Connecting People, Places and Records!  We hope to see you there! 🎟️ Book now: https://f.mtr.cool/jhmnsappvn #TVERCconf #WildlifeRecording #Oxfordshire #Berkshire

Such fantastic resources and opportunities here biologicalrecording.co.uk/biological-r...! great work @biologicalrecording.co.uk!

Just visited the Lacewing Recording Scheme website and there are lots of great identification guides available, e.g. www.laars.jamesjepson.com/neuroptera-l... - thanks to @jamesjepson.bsky.social and colleagues for putting this together

📍 Capture your wildlife sighting with What, Where, When, Who. By recording your observations, you’re helping monitor species, guide conservation, and grow our understanding of nature. 🌍 Find out more: https://f.mtr.cool/maclflrbre🐞🦉🌱 #WildlifeRecording #TVERC

🌿 SAVE THE DATE! 🌿  Join us for the TVERC Spring Recorders’ Conference: Nature & Data - Connecting People, Places and Records on Saturday 21st March 2026! Enjoy inspiring talks, updates, and networking. More details to follow soon!

Delighted to spot this Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) in the Valley this morning. An occasional visitor here, they love fishing in our ponds. 😍 #birds #UKWildlife #OX3 #OxfordshireFens 📷 @everyheron.bsky.social @judywebb.bsky.social @tverc1.bsky.social

🌿This year, we surveyed 46 #LocalWildlifeSites (LWS) in Berkshire, documenting a range of habitats including woodlands, heathlands, wetlands, and grasslands, with site sizes varying widely.  See the latest highlights: https://buff.ly/yvxx3dA

🎃 Meet the Caterpillar Club Fungus! 🍄  This creepy fungus feasts on caterpillars from the inside out, including ghost moths. Yes, really. 🧟‍♂️ 💀 A perfect pick for #Halloween, don’t you think? 👀 Spot any spooky wildlife this season? Let us know what you find! 📷Judy Webb

🍄Do you record fungi in the UK? The Biological Recording Company and the British Mycological Society are reviewing how fungi records in the Fungal Records Database of Britain and Ireland are verified and shared want to hear from you! Take the survey here:

This should be really interesting for all who love Lye Valley.

🍂 Reminder about the TVERC Recorders’ Fund! 🍂 If you have a project that can benefit from additional equipment or funds to enhance voluntary recording in Berkshire or Oxfordshire, our Recording Grant with Trust for Oxfordshire's Environment may help! https://trustforoxfordshire.org.uk/grants/

'Woodland Bats in Winter - a Reimagining of Bat Society'. Join us at Beckley Hall on Thursday, 6th November 2025 at 7.30 pm for a talk by freelance ecologist Ian Tanner. Details of venue: Beckley Hall, Woodperry Road, Beckley, Oxford, OX3 9UZ Open to Members and Non-members.

So many fungi to see at the moment & many challenging Russulas to try & identify. At a recent group survey we found this very weird Russula (which species?) with an inverted cap growing out of the top of its normal cap! #fungifriends

🌾 🐭Join the Mammal Society #NationalHarvestMouseSurvey from Oct to Mar! Help record nests and protect this species! No experience or specialist equipment is needed and anyone can get involved. 👉 Learn how to get involved: https://mammal.org.uk/current-research/national-harvest-mouse-survey

It's tomorrow! Help us plant wildflowers on the verges of the Avenue in Kennington! 🌷🌱🪻

Fungi recorders! 📣 The British Mycological Society are looking to survey fungi recorders for a project looking to improve data flow and verification processes. You can find the survey here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... You don't need to be a BMS member to take part - all recorders welcome 🍄

Early last month—Sam Brown spotted a Hummingbird Hawkmoth right in her garden in Barford St Michael. What a treat! 🌿 Seen something special lately? We’d love to hear about it! Share your wildlife sightings from #Berkshire and #Oxfordshire! https://tverc.org/recorders/share-your-records

Fabulous fungi - Watlington Hill in the Oxfordshire Chilterns is famous for its rare grassland fungi and the Big Blue Pinkgill Entoloma atromadidum is the most impressive. Several of these dark indigo beauties were seen yesterday @bbowt.bsky.social @chilternsnl.bsky.social @tverc1.bsky.social