Sussex Wildlife Trust
@sussexwildlife.bsky.social
Sussex Wildlife Trust. For everyone who cares about nature in Sussex. Become a member, volunteer & support our campaigns. Header photo - Sprat shoal © Paul Parsons https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/
Every year we team up with colleagues at Sussex IFCA to undertake small fish surveys in the near-shore sea at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve to understand the health of the small inshore fish population. 📸 Rich Bradley https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/this-years-small-fish-surveys-at-rye-harbour
New research maps where Pine Martens could thrive again in Britain. Published in Landscape Ecology as part of our South East Pine Marten Restoration Project. Read more: https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/is-britain-still-great-for-pine-marten #NationalPineMartenDay 📸 © Terry Whittaker
Hit Squad collecting Yellow-rattle seeds, When the flowers fade, the brown calyxes in which the tiny seeds ripen can be heard to give a distinctive 'rattle'. It's used to turn improved grassland back to meadow. By feeding off vigorous grasses, it allows more delicate species to push their way thru
This perching beauty is a Whinchat. A summer, transient visitor (or 'passage migrant') to the UK, about to head south for winter. James Tomlinson spotted this one last week.
Female Speckled Bush-cricket in our Rye garden. Jolly Green Giant 💚 #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #insects #orthoptera @sussexwildlife.bsky.social
Lots of Ivy blooms out in Sussex too, along with lots of Ivy bees 🐝 zooming around the blooms and the surface of the ground #wildflowerhour
When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. 1/2
Gorgeous day on #CissburyRing Great to have the clouds back again. A few wildflowers and butterflies still around and a green woodpecker flew up in front of me with a loud alarm call. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @southdownsnp.bsky.social
Good luck to everyone starting school, changing school or going back to school for the new term! And to the fantastic teaching staff across Sussex too. Have a good year all. We hope you can spend some of your learning time outside! Beach & Forest School © Roz Bassford
Happy hog. Build a pond and they will come. Lovely photo by Paul Parsons of a regular garden visitor. Ponds are just fantastic for wildlife.
What big eyes you have! All 8 of 'em. The Jumping Spider. Their vision's superior to most spiders so they're active hunters with no need of a web. Favourite prey includes greenfly & mosquitoes. During courtship the male performs an 8 leg-waving dance routine to woo a mate 📸Phil Booker 📸 Phil Booker.
Last chance to enter the Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve photography competition. The winning photos will be displayed at the Discovery Centre and Rye Station. Closing date: 1 September 2026 https://ryeharbourfriends.net/rye-harbour-wildlife-photo-competition Biting Stonecrop © Barry Yates
You may have seen summer warnings to wear shoes in shallow seawater due to the presence of Weever Fish. They can be quite hard to spot because they bury themselves in sand, awaiting a passing snack, but very painful if you tread on one cos of their venomous defensive spines 📸 Paul Parsons
The Hedge 6 27/8 Near The Hedge... parent Hobbies are encouraging 2 youngsters to fly, calling and tempting them with food. Both make clumsy efforts. One has flown off for now; the other isn't quite so confident! This is ACE! 45sp. #UKbirds #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife @sussexwildlife.bsky.social
The time for spiders has arrived! Look away now, arachnophobes. Seen one of these recently? The Wasp Spider. The waspy appearance is a defence mechanism to ward off predators who equate this colouration with being stung. 📸 Bob Eade
What lovely colours. Small Copper in Shoreham, spotted by Glynn Rubidge. The main foodplant of the caterpillar is Sorrel.
Update: our reserves team has removed 200+ dead birds from Castle Water, Rye Harbour, as part of our response to a suspected avian botulism outbreak. Samples are with APHA for testing; results to follow. Castle Water remains closed. Please keep dogs on leads & away from the water
Beautiful Clouded Yellow on Fleabane. Video by Matt Rich
Cornish Choughs go from strength to strength. Between this burgeoning population and the reintroductions in Kent, how long before we see them on the Seven Sisters? #sussexwildlife
BirdGuides@birdguides.bsky.social · last wk.Cornwall's Chough population has enjoyed another record-breaking breeding season, with 161 juveniles fledging around the county's coastline this summer:
Lovely shot of a Small Copper by Dave Boddington. The male of these kind of butterfly behaves aggressively towards any passing insects, returning to the same spot once the chase is over.
"Worth every scratch and poke" - the reward for an uncomfortable crawl on a cut crop field. 📷Hares © Daryl Peters
Chicken of the Woods fungi is a distinctive sulphur-yellow. AKA 'Sulphur polypore'. Grows high on trunks of deciduous trees such as Oak. Fungi belong to their own kingdom & get nutrients from organic matter, rather than by photosynthesis. It's often just fruiting bodies or 'mushrooms' that we see
A beautiful hornet hoverfly on ivy flowers. This is an important source of food for pollinators in autumn, so please don’t cut it back. #letitgrow #ivyflowers @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @lgspace.bsky.social
Marine Conservation Officer Sarah out doing a Small Fish Survey at Rye Harbour recently with Sussex IFCA. "A lot of the sand there is now very muddy - here is us stuck in the mud with our net... we did get it out!" 📸 Rich Bradley
Black-headed Gull in winter plumage, apparently with something to say for itself! By Tom Boyle, posted on the Nature Table
Ready to dive into Sea Fest 2026? A one-day marine festival, created by young people for young people, celebrating ocean action! Aged 16-30? Find out more and book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sea-fest-2026-youth-marine-festival-tickets-1997156965245 📷© Alexander Mustard/2020Vision
Peas of Sea Pea, Lathyrus japonicus, but don’t eat them - they’re toxic. Rye Harbour NR, East Sussex. Nationally scarce & on the Sussex Rare Plant Register but reasonably abundant at @sussexwildlife.bsky.social Rye, but even there declining - now restricted to shingle. @bsbibotany.bsky.social
Pied Plumehorn hoverfly on Water Mint at Iden Moat, Rye. #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #hoverflies #insects @sussexwildlife.bsky.social
Some fantastic photos of displaying Kingfishers - all taken by James Tomlinson
