Five years without Douglas today. Tough day ahead, but we'll be out in nature
Clare Boyes
@pickeletto.bsky.social
Grief-stricken mum of Douglas (http://douglasboyes.co.uk). We shared passion for insects & Bellowhead. Particularly obsessed by solitary wasps and bees. VC47 recorder, Bees, Wasps, Butterflies. MRes Ento student at HAU.
Fresh looking Hummingbird Hawk-Moth rescued from polytunnel today
🦋✨ A huge thank you to everyone who took part in #EntoFashion at #Ento26! The creativity, enthusiasm and love for insects on display perfectly captured the spirit of the conference! With thanks to Roving House for kindly providing such wonderful prizes, and congrats to overall winner Junho Yoon! 🎉
It's 5 years since Douglas died. Some lovely friends organised a fundraiser for their birthdays with the proceeds going to the Diarsia fund run by @savebutterflies.bsky.social to fund research into UK lepidoptera declines. Feel free to contribute here. Thank you. www.justgiving.com/page/tom-ter...
Tom & Tereza's fundraiser for Butterfly Conservation (The Diarsia Awards)
Help Tom Hayek raise money to support Butterfly Conservation
justgiving.com
Brilliant work by all the volunteer butterfly recorders who make this analysis possible, but it's not good news for the butterflies 😔
UKBMS@ukbms.bsky.social · last mo.Just published: UK and England butterfly population indicators using UKBMS data. These show a long-term decline in the all-species index in the UK of 18% and a 37% decline for habitat specialists in the UK. Check out the full statistics here ⬇️ www.gov.uk/government/s...
Volucella zonaria (Hornet Hoverfly) came to visit this afternoon. At one point there were three on the mint as I sat out. Not seen any hornets for a while though
Big Butterfly Count. Easy to do & fun! We are in a butterfly emergency & @savebutterflies.bsky.social needs your help. Take part in their Big Butterfly Count, a UK wide survey & help assess the health of our environment simply by counting butterflies... bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org
Big Butterfly Count
bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org
Juv Goshawk in the garden - returning to its perch after being knocked off by Sparrowhawk which you can hear in the background. Sparrowhawk knocked it off 3 / 4 times but it doesn't seem to have deterred it as we've seen it since (and Sparrowhawks still around too) @naturespy.bsky.social
Not being able to walk temporarily (field trip - rabbit hole - broken leg) has a few consolations. Yesterday 11 Clouded Yellow flew through the garden. Today, this one stayed awhile, nectaring on knapweed
Family of Stoats crossing from Wales into England in the garden early this morning. #gardenwildlife
Beautiful Demoiselles making more, on my pond today. Immediately afterwards she appeared to be ovipositing on Bog Bean in the pond. At least 8 males along the pondside. Obviously not read the book...The adjacent stream is polluted with a rocky bottom.
@shattenstone.bsky.social big congratulations on winning Feature Writer of the Year Simon. So well deserved. Everything you write is worth reading.
Bit surprised to find a hornet on my pillow. Safely potted up. I hope it survives until morning when I can set it free
Lots of foxes on this lovely song by Emily Portman @chrisgpackham.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rYO...
Emily Portman - Fox's Song
YouTube video by Hudson Records
youtube.com
The fact that nocturnal migration acoustic monitoring can be used to judge migration intensity and in turn, people can control light pollution and help birds migrate is very exciting prospect that should be worked upon. @wildlifeacoustics.com #NocmigWebinar
Never realised Crossbills had so many regional accents, nor that Welsh Crossbills visit France. Fascinating facts from @wildlifeacoustics.com #NocmigWebinar
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘I love midges because I know what their hearts look like’: is the passion for taxonomy in danger of dying out?
Insect taxonomist Art Borkent has described and named more than 300 species of midges but fears his field of science is dying out, despite millions of insects, fungi and other organisms waiting to be ...
theguardian.com
Another 40 year first - today 2 hares ran into the garden through the stream. They came right up to the house and then chased around the garden. Checking my camera, they had visited a couple of hours earlier too. Sadly, both my cameras had stopped functioning properly overnight so no good video
We have 40 years of bird records for our garden. Chiffchaffs used to arrive late March, but for 20 years arrived around 17 March. Last year broke the record with one singing on 5 March, but this year the first singing was 26 Feb. We've not yet seen an overwintering one #climatebreakdown
Enfin entre les mains après quelques soucis avec le livreur ! Un ouvrage sur les coccinelles qui s'annonce bien utile, même si il ne couvrira pas toutes les espèces françaises. Un gros travail sur ces petites espèces trop mal connues. #entomology
Cut blackthorn hedges less often = boost brown hairstreak butterflies. Really simple, cost-free (or even money-saving) measures can massively benefit wildlife. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Rare butterflies bounce back after landowners in Wales cut back on flailing hedges
More than 300 brown hairstreak butterfly eggs were recorded in hedgerows near Llandeilo this winter after decade of decline
theguardian.com
Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously! 4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE MARK RUSKELL MSP ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴by emailing PlanningPolicyConsultation@communities.gov.uk now!WOOP!
New #OpenAccess research in #RESInsectConsDiv reports that #soil sand content is a driving force in structuring #bee #communities doi.org/10.1111/icad.70051 #Conservation #InsectHabitats #Distribution @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyeco.bsky.social
