1. Pet microchips in the UK. What a mess. 🐕 I've been trying to update address records since moving house for our two dogs. 🦮🐕‍🦺 Which should be easy, because that's the whole point of microchipping dogs, so pet owners can quickly be found.

Huge numbers of Red Admiral butterflies on the wing today, presumably freshly emerged. They were enjoying sunny glades, & settling on nettles (as well as appreciating horse dung on the bridleway 😄). This species has benefitted from warmer UK winters & is increasingly resident rather than migratory.

The local lake, Abbots Pool on the edge of Bristol, is full of dead fish after last week's heatwave. Presumably lack of oxygen killed them all. It's distressing to see the results of climate change on local wildlife areas.

I wrote this 7 years ago In it I called for cities to better embrace greenery, reflective coatings, water and shading to tackle urban heat. More relevant than ever…. www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/...

That time of a summer evening when I can sit out and hear cricket being played on a school ground & tawny owls calling gently from the trees opposite.

Very meta

This morning scrolling Bluesky, there is nothing at all in my feed about Putin’s barbaric attack on the Ukraine’s holiest site, the UNESCO protected Lavra so I’m posting this here.

A few people campaigning / focus grouping in Makerfield have told me that even Reform supporters have brought up that Farage going against the wishes of Nowak's family made them uneasy. So these statements are both brave and important.

Lizzie Dearden@lizziedearden.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The family of the Belfast stabbing victim have released a statement saying - like the family of Henry Nowak last week - that the attack should not be used to "divide people or fuel hostility" They condemned disorder and praised the "valuable contribution" by migrants inews.co.uk/news/politic...

This blew my mind. Some of the largest data centers can require up to 5 million gallons of water per day, equivalent to the water use of 50,000 people. Why are we selling out the survival of our planet to enrich a handful of Big Tech CEOs?

Majority of US’s new AI datacenters to be built on drought-hit land

Guardian analysis finds facilities to be built in some of the driest areas as outcry grows over water needed to power AI

theguardian.com

Grasses, Ox-eye daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare),Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) and much more at Ashton Court meadows in Bristol. Walking amongst them on a windy day made me feel dizzy with the ground seeming to sway😄 #wildflowerhour

Ashton Court, Bristol meadows at their peak. Ox-eye daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) & Common Spotted orchids (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) are their chief features but the motion and backdrop of the grasses provide equal beauty. #wildflowerhour

The grasses in the Ashton Court meadows 😍 especially the Totter Grass (Briza media) & ALL those Ox-eye daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) plus Common Spotted orchids - a delight for the senses. #wildflowerhour

A fantastic orchid weekend in Kent - a bit of solo exploring on Saturday, then joined @mariposanature.bsky.social on Sunday. 14 species in total. Here's a commemorative collage for #WildflowerHour #OrchidChallenge @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social Names in ALT text.

Trump’s behavior on social media today is so unhinged even by his standards that I can’t help but wonder what the doctors really told him the other day. This is a deeply unwell person.

I’ve been reading a lot about the end of the Roman republic recently, and the slide of that empire into imperial monarchy. The stamping of the leader’s face on coins, colossal statues and a reworking of the forum. But even Augustus didn’t build himself a ballroom-fortress.

As Spring has progressed, & following last week's rain, the fallen branch near Burrator covered in moss, wood sorrel & ferns has grown even more ferny & wood sorrely #Dartmoor #Devon #WildflowerHour

I recently watched an interview where actor /comedian Martin Short, talking about his daughter who passed away, said: “She did the best she could until she couldn’t,” and described mental illness as often being a “terminal disease.” We need more compassionate honesty and conversations like this

Walk in the woods, Lee Moor Heard cuckoos calling at various points along the route, an increasingly rare sound in recent years #Dartmoor #Devon

This is the worst British performance in Europe since the Somme.

Sneaking a giant screen into the flagshagger march is one of the funniest things @ledbydonkeys.org have ever done. "STAY HYDRATED" 😂🤣😂

The buttercups at Ashton Court, Bristol are almost as good as the orchids there 😄

Seeing a plant you’ve not seen for a while is just like catching up with an old friend. So happy to see some gorgeous Fly Orchids this weekend too! Fascinating & enchanting in equal measure! 🥰 Ophrys insectifera #Wildflowerhour

What do you get when you cross a Fly Orchid with a Bee Orchid? This little cutie, that’s what! 😍 So excited to see the Fly x Bee hybrid this weekend! #Wildflowerhour

Oh, go on then... a few more Green-winged Orchids (Anacamptis morio) from Ashton Court, Bristol. #wildflowerhour

Probably hundreds of thousands of Green-winged orchids (Anacamptis morio)on the meadows of Ashton Court park, Bristol. A gorgeous spectacle, with orchids in bi-colours, pale pinks, whites & much more. #wildflowerhour

Spring flowers from the garden: Iceberg roses, a sprig of Choisya & snippings of vanilla-scented nemesia. Essence of May in a vase 💚🤍🩷

A good year for Holly Blues as I'm seeing them everywhere - & lots in my Bristol garden (where there's plenty of holly & ivy) They're often around the bay trees & the only reason I can think of is scale insect honeydew - as the bay trees are riddled with them...

The unmistakable sound of a nightingale at Ebernoe Common nature reserve. A beautiful wild place in West Sussex. Heard at least two singing today along with blackcaps, chiffchaffs, wrens, blackbirds, garden warblers and robins. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #nightingales

Love this waterfall into a little pool in a tufa stream. Moss, ivy & ferns, the leaning trunks in the woods. My little collies always stop for a drink here too.

The amount of AI book covers I saw at B&N today was depressing. I just hope that publishers realize that not only will I not read it, I wont even pick it up to look at the back, I do not care who the author is. "Don't judge a book by it's cover?" OHooooo, yeah I will.