This was so tiny I thought it was a fly but decided to try a pic . Turns out it's a Choreutis nemorana, the fig-tree skeletonizer moth. I do have a fig tree covered in figs that never ripen, but I don't suppose this moth cares about that!🙄 @stevenash71.bsky.social @dorsetwildlife.bsky.social

Seriously delicious basil pesto…made with toasted pumpkin seeds instead of pine nuts.

Lunch! Toasted home-baked sourdough, rubbed with a little elephant garlic and piled with tomatoes, cucumber and basil from the allotment. As fresh as it gets!

I've haven't managed to go to my Watercolour Nature Journal class for a few months, but I went this week, and we did butterflies! Two were from an old collection, but the white ones on Buddleia were from life. #butterflies

A beautiful male Red-tailed bumblebee foraging on our Chocolate Cosmos. I wonder if he's enjoying it as much as I would, if I were a bee feasting on a flower which smells of chocolate!

This one looks like fun, @wildflowerhour.bsky.social ! #wildflowerhour

wildflowerhour@wildflowerhour.bsky.social · 2d ago

For #Wildflowerhour this week find a wild or naturalised bloom with quirky #CommonNames! Pictured is Scutellaria galericulata, commonly named Skullcap, Hoodwort & Helmet Flower as the flowers were likened to the galerum worn by Roman soldiers ! Share your finds this Sunday 8-9pm!

Yesterday, I went paddle boarding for the first time. On the river Fowey. I’m not at all comfortable on (or in) water, so it was pretty scary to start with… but it was SO much fun and I’m completely hooked now!

Two young Stonechats with (presumably) Mum supervising. They were perched on a dead piece of Sea Buckthorn in the dunes at Seaton Carew. Watercolour painting from my own photos and sketches. 🪶🐡 #birdingNorthEast

We're hiring! We have a new Local Change project, building on previous BSBI monitoring projects, to provide crucial data on the state of our wild plants. Background to the project: bsbi.org/take-part/pr... We're now looking to recruit a Project Coordinator. Find out more: bsbi.org/about/people...

Excited to find a wildflower I’ve not seen before, on my walk yesterday! I think it might be Hylotelephium telephium - commonly known as live-forever, witch’s moneybags, and frog’s-stomach? Apparently very tolerant of dry conditions… @sylvatica2024.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social

I just made a cute little sourdough loaf for Airbnb guests! It weighs. 460g Is that large enough for breakfast for two people, for two days? There’s granola, yogurt and soft fruit, too… OR… shall I bake larger loaves so guests can also make sandwiches, if they want to?

Meet our extended family… the Daisy family. A wildflower array of the Asteraceae still blooming here at Madrigal despite drought and relentless heat — yellow, white, purple, prickly, feathery and thistle-down soft. Different weather. The same wonderfully sprawling family #WildflowerHour #DaisyFamily

#Poetry #Painting #Morning It is morning, and again I am the lucky person to be in it - Mary Oliver 🎨 Kaoru Yamada

Love this story! Now I know "a minimum of 52 calls have to be made from a phone box each year in order for it to remain operational" I'll be sure to make one of those calls every time I find a phone box that still functions... #UseYourLocalPhoneBox

Tom Larkin@tomlarkin.bsky.social · last wk.

A good news story if ever there was one! 👇🏻

I found Hummingbird Hawkmoth caterpillars on the Lady's Bedstraw in our mini-meadow last summer, using a UV torch, as recommended by John! Photo taken the following day...

John Walters@johnwalterswildife.bsky.social · 6d ago

Hummingbird Hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum larva found at night on Cleavers. Easiest to find with the aid of a UV torch as they are fluorescent in UV. If you would like to find one in the UK there has never been better chance. Find some Bedstraw growing over a south facing wall or bank

Two moths I don’t often see on Dartmoor August Thorn Ennomos quercinaria and Antler Moth Cerapteryx graminis Trigonos Pentlle Snowdonia North Wales

Just published: Golden Days - on the arrival of some of my favourite birds and the promise of autumn open.substack.com/pub/robyarha... #birds #wildlife #nature #birdmigration #autumn #fall

Golden days

The tragedy of the Dunwich fire still weighs down my thoughts, but now, even in this August heat, the arrival of some of my favourite birds is bringing the promise of autumn

open.substack.com

Ring Ouzel is on the verge of extinction as a breeding species in Ireland, according to a recently published paper:

Ring Ouzel on the verge of extinction in Ireland

A dedicated survey in 2021 produced only a handful of confirmed breeding records of Ring Ouzel in Ireland, leaving the species facing imminent extinction there.

f.mtr.cool

Writer and illustrator Tove Jansson was born #OTD in 1914. Her Moomintroll books were a formative influence on my childhood. 🎨 Illustration for ‘Finn Family Moomintroll’ (1948)

#Glyphosate and earthworms: yes continually dosing this #PoisonedPlanet has costs we're only just beginning to grasp www.ecoportal.net/en/earthworm...

Roughly 300 million US acres get glyphosate each year, and in a greenhouse test one dose cut earthworm reproduction by more than half in three months

A study found glyphosate-based weed killer cut earthworm reproduction by 56% in 3 months. Here's what that means for your lawn's soil and nearby streams.

ecoportal.net

Have you discovered the BTO @btobirds.bsky.social's new podcast 'Beyond the Bird Table' yet? I've just listened to the first episode 'A Is For Auk' - where they discuss the life & death of the Great Auk, and explore the world of UK seabirds. SO worth a listen! open.spotify.com/show/033HfM7...

Beyond The Bird Table

Podcast · British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) · The official podcast of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) where we delve deep into the bird world, with expert guests who shed light on the latest...

open.spotify.com

A Painted Lady enjoying the Knapweed in our mini wildlife Meadow. Such a stunning butterfly… the patterns on the undersides of their wings reminds me of stained glass windows

Another of my favourite reads from last year. Congratulations @nicolawriting.bsky.social - you amazing writer of delightful and opinionated ghosts, you! x

Nicola Chester@nicolawriting.bsky.social · last wk.

Thrilled to pieces to be shortlisted @wainwrightprize.bsky.social! My quirky fusion of a book & its delightful & opinionated ghosts (human, wild & otherwise) revisiting the points in recent wildlife & rural history where we could have taken different paths, why we didn’t, & what we do now!

Over the moon to see @drmjwarren.bsky.social's wonderful book #TheCuckoosLea on this year's #WainwrightPrize shortlist!!! I can't recommend it highly enough...

Michael J. Warren@drmjwarren.bsky.social · last wk.

If there’s one outcome I wanted for #TheCuckoosLea it’s that it will bring greater attention to the heritage of our ancient place-names which include a lot of nature! Making @wainwrightprize.bsky.social’s shortlist this year is validation of that aim. #naturewriting #PlaceNames #WainwrightPrize

Just adding finishing touches to our B&B before the first guests arrive tomorrow. We're running out of wall space in our cottage, so have hung this gorgeous print 'Autumn Flight' - by Yorkshire printmaker @hestercoxprint.bsky.social - above the bed More of Hester's artwork here: www.hestercox.com

I though it might be nice to have a little pile of books for folk to read during their stay in our B&B room... what do you think?

Seven* of our satellite tagged Cuckoos are south of the Sahara, having made epic migrations from Europe! *Actually, make that eight - Irish bird Brock has 'reappeared' & his signal shows that he is in Chad. Find out more, & follow the Cuckoos' progress: ➡️ www.bto.org/cuckoos #birds #ukbirding

Deadline for this is tomorrow!

BTO | British Trust for Ornithology@btobirds.bsky.social · 3w ago

Calling all wildlife artists! 🎨🦅 A reminder to submit your work for the Society of Wildlife Artists exhibition The Natural Eye at Mall Galleries ➡️ www.mallgalleries.or... We’re also excited to offer our BTO Award of £500 again this year. 🙌 🎨 Early morning Avocets by Richard Allen

'Thriving on seams That tiney island swell Just hilling from the mud and rancid streams Suiting thy nature well For here thy bill Suited by wisdom good Of rude unseemly length doth delve and drill The gelid mass for food...' From John Clare's poem 'To the Snipe' #poetry #JohnClare #birds

Our Airbnb page is still work in progress (pics of breakfast, and a few more tweaks to make) but we've gone live! AND we have 2 bookings already... There's a 20% discount, I think, on the first 3 bookings, so one still left to claim. www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/173324...

Bed and breakfast in Tremar Coombe · ★New · 1 bedroom · 1 bed · 1 private bathroom

Beautifully renovated guest annex near Bodmin Moor

airbnb.co.uk