This is such an important subject. It needs more public awareness. I'm training to groom dogs, yet this subject of chemical contamination isn't even mentioned. It should be.

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

I will be giving an introduction to the aquatic wildlife around Buckfastleigh including Dippers, Lampreys and Kingfishers at this free event. Moor Imagination Centre, Chapel Street, Buckfastleigh TQ11 0AB on Saturday 10 October 2026 at 11 am

Passenger to Actinic at Coverack, Lizard last night with @josscarr.bsky.social . Joss’s Photo @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

Very exciting to kick this up at Colne Point, Essex on Saturday, just moments after remarking how I didn’t think I’d recognise a grasshopper new to Britain. Sphingonotus caerulans, the second British, and likely first natural record. Found with @graemelyons.bsky.social and @josscarr.bsky.social

Red-backed Shrike just west of steps at Sea Palling maps.app.goo.gl/ZfEDYCCay8H3... @birdguides.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social

Been waiting patiently for that bubbling trill to snap me out of a daydream at some point and it finally did!! Bee-eater a very satisfying find tick

Harry Witts@hwitts.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Bee eater just flew east over Geldeston, Waveney valley, Norfolk @birdguides.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social @lnashnature.bsky.social

Bee eater just flew east over Geldeston, Waveney valley, Norfolk @birdguides.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social @lnashnature.bsky.social

This is a deeply disappointing U-turn by the Government, driven by misinformation and conspiracy theories about "pony culls" that were never on the table. Removing ponies from stocking calculations doesn't remove the need to manage grazing on Dartmoor. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Government secures the future of Dartmoor’s iconic ponies

New measures will protect Dartmoor ponies and support those who keep them on the moor.

gov.uk

If people want to keep farming livestock in climate change England, they're going to need to factor in more trees, shrubs and wood pasture. It's amazing how many upland and lowland grazing pastures have virtually no shade at all.

The scale of bad behaviour by dog owners is insane. Only around 5% actually treat nature with respect: "Most (always: 85%; always or occasionally: 95%) dogs were walked off the lead even when signs were present requesting that dogs were kept on a lead." link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Lev Parikian@levparikian.bsky.social · 5mo ago

With respect, no your dog isn’t “very well behaved” and no she won’t be able to avoid trampling the plovers’ nests and yes they are in this area and yes you are literally standing next to a sign explaining this and asking you to put her on a lead and yes you are in fact a cunt. With respect. #COTD

Natural England failing to protect valuable sites. Our report for @wildjustice.bsky.social shows that nearly 2/3 of sites waiting to be designated as SSSIs were under threat from development. One site in Thurrock will be directly destroyed. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

England wildlife watchdog ‘has stopped designating special sites for protection’

Exclusive: Report finds Natural England has created no new SSSIs, which protect areas from development, since 2023

theguardian.com

This is becoming a pervasive issue, for example involving the sidelining of actual experts and the heaping of pressure on regulatory bodies to move forward with dubious (re)introductions. A quick ecology 101 for ‘conservation gurus’. Thread 🌍🦗🦋🪶🦬🧪1/

James Bullock@jmbecologist.bsky.social · 8mo ago

In the UK I’ve noticed the rise of ‘conservation gurus’ Who use their own experience & opinions rather than assessing the evidence to put forward particular takes on how conservation should be done Followed avidly by some in conservation practice, but not overlapping with researchers

We’ve published our response to the "Lost Frogs report". Read our statement here: https://www.arc-trust.org/lost-frogs-report-comment-from-amphibian-and-reptile-conservation-trust

Why are the cycles in numbers of young Brent geese, long-tailed skua and curlew sandpiper seen in Europe? youtu.be/wMO7d9svQRs?...

Cycles in arctic wildlife

YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts

youtu.be

We’ve published our latest statement on reintroductions, assisted colonisation and the importance of evidence-led conservation. You can read our latest statement here ⬇️ https://www.arc-trust.org/News/ensuring-amphibian-and-reptile-releases-contribute-to-natures-recovery

A nice Christmas Eve in the Hull Valley; adult drake Smew at High Eske and 26 Russian Whitefronts flew south @birdguides.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social

@andymus.bsky.social Hi Andy, could Guanchia (Forficula) pubescens and Cybocephalus nipponicus be added to PSL please? Both have been discovered a couple of years ago but not sure if they’ve been written up yet/guess there’re not in UKSI. Found em with Tristan Bantock and Joss Carr at Olympic Park

'An urban rewilding group is seeking the public’s views on the potential return of white storks to London as part of a project to see if the birds could make a home in the capital.' Survey link here: app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/brighton/t...

Rewilding group to assess possible return of white storks to London

Citizen Zoo to map habitats in the capital and consult boroughs and the public about reintroduction of the birds

theguardian.com

The current position of Natural England is that (re)introduction of White Storks should not be supported. Evidence for their historical presence here is sketchy and it is difficult to rule out historical remains as not pertaining to regular vagrancy. Cultural evidence is weak at best #UKbirding 1/2

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · last yr.

'An urban rewilding group is seeking the public’s views on the potential return of white storks to London as part of a project to see if the birds could make a home in the capital.' Survey link here: app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/brighton/t...

@britishbugs.bsky.social Hi Tristan, what’s this shieldbug nymph please? Swept a few from a ruderal site in Essex. I’m wondering about both Peribalus strictus and Neottiglossa pusilla

@britishbugs.bsky.social Hi Tristan, can Stictopleurus punctatonervosus have an unbanded connexivum like this please?

The other week saw me locate Attulus distinguendus at West Thurrock at the second time of asking - I watched it hunting from the tops of rocks protruding from ash for half an hour while I played it England’s first test victory

Netted Pug found my Hackney trap last night, probably dispersing from the chalk around Hertford, more than ten miles away @wlangdon12.bsky.social #teammoth

1/6) New paper out in Molecular Ecology! We uncover the intriguing biogeographic history behind the Holarctic disjunct distributions in Vanessa butterflies. @phylomigrationlab.bsky.social #biogeography #insectmigration #butterflymigration #butterflies #evolution shorturl.at/UFrrU

This species is very common in Bialowieza, Poland. The males fly around like madmen like Emperors do back home but finally cold weather and sun yesterday allowed me to see one stationary! @richardkbroughton.bsky.social

Richard Fox@richardfoxbc.bsky.social · last yr.

Wow!! 🤩 Tau Emperor (Aglia tau) in the moth trap in rural Sweden 🇸🇪 - the first I’ve ever seen. #teammoth

Lifelong ambition realised when I *finally* saw Wolves. And my camera was in my backpack. Record shots, but the views beforehand were crippling as three adults walked through the forest at ~50 m distance. One stopped to stare at me & @hwitts.bsky.social for a good 5 seconds. #Białowieża Nat. Park.

Dorset Cream Wave back in Hackney for another year! Two months earlier than my first record last year #TeamMoth

Spring!

Spent days unsuccessfully checking early-flowering blossom in Hackney trying to find Osmia cornuta but instead find one cowering on the pavement in a rainstorm! Very happy to have finally connected with this new colonist

On 6 March Jon Leysell found Oxycarenus lavaterae in Lime Trees in Shoeburyness, Essex TQ92838660 (the 3rd UK and 1st Essex record). I took these photos on 8 March.

New paper in Conservation Evidence Journal: Sampling of red grouse carcasses in Britain indicates no progress during an intended five-year voluntary transition from lead to non-lead shotgun ammunition conservationevidencejournal.com/reference/pd...