John
@astrapian.bsky.social
Amateur naturalist. Conservationist. Socialist. Suffolk-based.
Market Weston Fen was a lush haven of flowers this week, given months of drought in Suffolk. Highlights included Marsh Fragrant Orchid, Grass of Parnassus, Fine-leaved Water-dropwort, & Pink Water-Speedwell... @suffolkwildlife.bsky.social @suffolk-nats1929.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
A trip to the Brecks this week included finding my first Common Gromwell at Market Weston Fen. As usual, I checked for any leaf mines or caterpillars and was delighted to find this Gromwell Ermine caterpillar... @suffolkwildlife.bsky.social @suffolk-nats1929.bsky.social
I was lucky yesterday in East Suffolk to watch this Lime Hawkmoth caterpillar trying to get away from a parasitic wasp (Callajoppa cirrogaster) that is laying eggs in it
A day down in Essex with @ipswichbirder.bsky.social yesterday produced a few cracking invertebrates which haven't yet made their way to Suffolk much, or at all... details on photos
This smart fly, Orellia falcata, appears to be uncommon in Suffolk (I'm unsure as iRecord is down), amd was new for me. Its larvae feed on Goat's-beard (Tragopon pratensis) which it can be seen hanging onto in the photo... @teamdiptera.bsky.social
A nice female-type Red-veined Darter at East Lane, Bawdsey, Suffolk this morning @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @dragonflydamselfly.bsky.social
A Pyracantha in my East Suffolk garden is pumping out nectar, attracting many hoverflies and this new species for me - Long-horned General (Stratiomys longicornis), an uncommon species of upper saltmarsh and grazing marshes in the South East @uk-soldierflies.bsky.social
One Small Mottled Willow made it as fas as Horsey Corner, Norfolk, last night @migrantmothuk.bsky.social
Spuleria flavicaput, new for me from Horsey Corner last night - one of many moths with a common food plant (Hawthorn for this one) yet a strangely local distribution... Is this a new location for Norfolk @jameslowenwild.bsky.social ? Can't quite tell from norfolkmoths...
@mothiduk.bsky.social Is this possibly Epinotia tetraquetana (facing left) and E. immundana (facing right)? I'm trapping new Suffolk sites and not familiar with the species yet!
This highlights the hidden mental burdens conservationists carry. The weight of loss every day - when the best I can often aim for is to slow the rate of loss - is heavy. To be honest, it is not the small wins that sustain me, but the moral duty to do what is right: news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-...
A profession built on hope, strained by loss
Earlier this month, Jeremy Hance’s “‘An epidemic of suffering’: Why are conservationists breaking down?” and the follow-up commentary “Emotional and psychological stresses beleaguer conservation profe...
news.mongabay.com
I love stumbling upon a new gall - Sunday's surprise from my garden was my first Lasioptera rubi (Raspberry Gall Midge) gall, on a raspberry cane.
www.thepoke.com/2026/02/27/t...
This fabulous takedown of Matt Goodwin after his defeat to the ‘woke Greens’ is a supremely satisfying watch
Spare a thought – only kidding! – for Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin, who despite all the huffing and puffing by Nigel Farage suffered by-election defeat at the hands of the Green Party’s Hannah Spencer. It...
thepoke.com
Help us make hope normal again. Join the Green Party now.
Over 50 years old, and I've just made my first ever donation to a political party because we really need HOPE in these dark times... @zackpolanski.bsky.social @greenparty.org.uk
The Green Party of England & Wales@greenparty.org.uk · 9mo agoHope is here. Help us beat Reform in May. Donate today ⤵️
"If you go back a million minutes, get to the start of 2023. If you go back a billion minutes, you get to the Roman Empire. That's the scale of inequality we're living with." Zack Polanski Such a brilliant illustration.
Some superb fungi in East Suffolk in the last couple of weeks. For starters, here is my first Piggyback Rosegill (Volvariella surrecta) - a species which feeds on decaying Clouded Funnel (Clitocybe nebularis)
Delighted to add Radford's Flame Shoulder to my garden list in East Suffolk last night, arriving with an influx of Udea ferrugalis @migrantmothuk.bsky.social
Science: Trump supporters are assholes.
Trump supporters report higher levels of psychopathy, manipulativeness, callousness, and narcissism
Support for Donald Trump is linked to darker personality traits, including increased psychopathy and decreased empathy, new research finds. The study also connects conservative political beliefs to lo...
psypost.org
@migrantmothuk.bsky.social A stunning, presumably home-grown, Striped Hawkmoth in my moth trap near Woodbridge on Wednesday night
The Onion gets better and better... theonion.com/ghislaine-ma...
Ghislaine Maxwell Can’t Help But Notice Interview Room Covered In Plastic Sheeting
TALLAHASSEE, FL—Perplexed that the Department of Justice had chosen a setting with such strange decor to ask her about Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators, Ghislaine Maxwell confirmed Thursday that she ...
theonion.com
Again to the point. Inside federal law enforcement ICE has always had a terrible rep. Place for people who can't get jobs at the more legit/disciplined federal policing agencies. High zeal to beat people up, low competence. Will get vastly worse hiring vast numbers under time pressure.
Christopher Webb@cwebbonline.com · last yr.ICE is going to get someone killed. This was outside 100 Montgomery in SF’s Financial District. If you needed proof these rookie hires aren’t trained, here it is. Real feds de-escalate. They call for backup. They don’t drag people down the street w/a car. Hope everyone’s OK. (Multi-angle footage)
I'm no fan of the Iranian regime, but this does well at exposing the current western hypocrisy: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The warmongers were wrong about Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Now watch them make the same mistake about Iran | Owen Jones
Israel is the main source of terror and instability in the Middle East. But the west continually turns away from this reality, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones
theguardian.com
