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Kelsey J.R.P. Byers

@plantpollinator.bsky.social

Pollination & floral scent evolution; group leader, John Innes Centre (UK). Birds, bugs, cats, tea, &c. Any pronouns, asexual, agender, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome / POTS / ADHD / autistic / associated stuff. Majority time wheelchair human. Posts mine, no AI.

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Kelsey J.R.P. Byers@plantpollinator.bsky.social · 2w ago

Hate will never win - but wow does it hurt sometimes. Sending so much love to the Berlin queer community right now, especially the friends and family of the person killed and those injured. (context: yes, someone drove a car into a Pride event. not joking. they've cancelled the parade.)

Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽@needhibhalla.bsky.social · 3w ago

After submitting your comment: CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES “Congress can override the rule through the appropriations process. They can write into statute a requirement to follow peer review and best scientific practices. In this way, Congress can stop the attacks on science.”

Sam Wang@samwang.bsky.social · 3w ago

To stop the Project 2025 takeover of science, public comments are half a plan. But they won't get us all the way there. Here's the second half of the plan - and what you can do: samwang.substack.com/p/building-h...

Kelsey J.R.P. Byers@plantpollinator.bsky.social · 4w ago

Some more fun back garden minibeasts on our ragwort forest (still no mosquitoes on the ragwort): Andrena hattorfiana (very unusual for Norfolk, esp. the red form! but pretty sure of ID), Araniella sp. building her web, Syritta pipiens, and Stictopleurus prob. abutilon.

A large mining bee is seen foraging on a flower of Ragwort. The flower is a yellow daisy-like flower with ray florets and spiky disc florets. The bee is black overall with red markings on her abdomen and very fluffy pale-haired hing tibiae for collecting pollen. Her wings are folded over her back and she is seen from the side.An orb weaver spider is seen spinning a web against some blurry ray florets of Ragwort. The spider has a pale brownish green body and short legs and a very large, spherical bright green abdomen with a red dot near her spinnerets. She is seen from below.A small hoverfly is seen on a flower of Ragwort with other flowers in the background. The yellow flower has long ray florets and spiny disc florets in the middle which she is perched on. Her body is black with pale greyish white markings and her wings are folded over her back. Her most obvious feature is a hugely thick hind femur which is marked in black and red and has black spines coming out of the bottom.A true bug is seen perched on yellow ray florets of Ragwort surrounding a brown central cluster of disc florets. The bug is brownish greenish grey with long legs and four-segmented long antennae. Its wings are translucent greenish grey and folded over its abdomen, whose edges are green with brown spots.
Kelsey J.R.P. Byers@plantpollinator.bsky.social · 4w ago

Some more hoverflies in the back garden on Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris): Syritta pipiens, Sphaerophoria sp. (females cannot be ID'd to species normally), Scaeva pyrastri, and Episyrphus balteatus! Can you tell I love hoverflies?

A Syritta pipiens hoverfly stands on a yellow flower of Jacobaea vulgaris (Ragwort). The fly has a large head with big red eyes, a black and grey thorax, and a spotted black, orange, and grey abdomen. Its clear wings are held above its abdomen. The front two pairs of legs are yellow and thin, while the back pair is yellow and black with a very thick femur which has several black spines on it.A Sphaerophoria hoverfly stands on a yellow flower of Ragwort with more flowers in the background. This hoverfly is long and thin, with a head with large red eyes and a yellow face, a brassy bronze thorax with yellow side stripes, and a long narrow abdomen striped in black and yellow. Her transparent wings are held away from her body.A Scaeva pyrastri hoverfly is seen perched on a flower of Ragwort with more flowers in the background. This hoverfly has a puffed up silvery face with large red eyes that meet at the top and a brassy silvery thorax. Its abdomen is black with pairs of white curved lines on each segment. The transparent wings are held away from the body.A low resolution photograph of an Episyrphus balteatus (Marmelade Hoverfly) perched on a green leaf against a blurry green background. The hoverfly has large red eyes that meet at the top, a brassy bronze thorax with subtle striping, and an orange abdomen with black stripes and mustache-like bars. The transparent wings are held away from the body.
Kelsey J.R.P. Byers@plantpollinator.bsky.social · 4w ago

Good day for accidental insects at the GP surgery and on the way home... 10-spot Ladybird, some Dor Beetle, a Nymphalid caterpillar (caterpillar ID book arrives tomorrow!), and an Agriphilia straminella crambid (grass) moth.

A tiny ladybug is seen from above standing on a blue floor with black spots. The ladybug has a pair of reddish-orange wing covers (elytra) over its abdomen with black spots and a white thorax with more black spots. The photo is blurry.A Dor Beetle is seen from above standing on bare grey cement. This beetle is oval-shaped and shining blackish blue. The legs are all held stiffly out from the body and are thick and spiny. The wing covers (elytra) have longitudinal grooves in them and overall the beetle is very smoothly round.A nymphalid butterfly caterpillar is seen against a white person's finger and skin, partially standing on the finger but with its front half reaching out for the next surface. It has rows of spiny protrusions along its body which are greyish white in color. Between these are orange yellow rings in the back two thirds and greyish white rings in the front two thirds. Its eyes are large and reddish brown.A crambid (grass) moth is seen from the side perched on some brick and mortar. The moth is long with wings that come along its back held in a roof type posture. It has very long palps coming out of its head, held straight out, that are furry and brownish. The eyes are bright blue with a black dot. The legs are brown and held out from the body, as are the long antennae. Its wings are tan-brown with white streaks and black dots at the wing edge.
Kelsey J.R.P. Byers@plantpollinator.bsky.social · last mo.

I think this is my 3rd? 4th? course of antibiotics in the last year. Fortunately doxycycline and I get on well, but I'd really rather not have to run to the GP every time I start tasting the distinct taste of my lungs... & I'd rather that not be the default outcome of me getting anything sick-wise.

Kelsey J.R.P. Byers@plantpollinator.bsky.social · last mo.

(in other news, immunosuppression sucks. If you're sick with a respiratory thing, please please please don't go out if you're able to (I know there are issues around employment and child/self-care, of course), and if you do need to and are allowed to, please mask to protect folks like me, thanks!)

Kelsey J.R.P. Byers@plantpollinator.bsky.social · last mo.

Sadly I have caught a flu of some sort (not COVID thankfully, probably not influenza, just something similar) so no birding or bugging or plant-browsing until I am recovered! I hate how much harder being sick hits with chronic illness, especially with dysautonomia and other fatigue-causing stuff.

Kelsey J.R.P. Byers@plantpollinator.bsky.social · last mo.

Went back again to RSPB Strumpshaw Fen last Thursday early morning and saw some amazing birds and bugs and plants and other such things! Please enjoy some pics if you like - more in thread! Grey Heron, Great Cormorant, and two fun shots of a female Bearded Reedling/Bearded Tit!

A Grey Heron stands at the border between a green reedbed and water, with its legs partially submerged. This large water bird has a long beak which currently holds a fish partway down, a yellow eye, and a white head with a black eye stripe. The neck is long and white with black spots. Its back and wings are medium grey with some black on the wings, and the legs are long with knobby knees.A Great Cormorant swims in open water with most of its body submerged. All we can see is a slight curve of its black back and then its head and neck above water. The neck is long and thin and black and the head is black with a white cheek patch, greenish eye, yellow throat, and a medium length greyish black beak held at an upright angle.A female Bearded Reedling or Bearded Tit perches on a dead branch covered in lichen in front of blurry trees and blue sky. She is looking straight at us with pale eyes with a black eye stripe and a bright yellow bill. Her head and body are medium warm brown and she has a white throat. Her long legs are black and have long claws on her feet, and her long tail looks black in this photo.A female Bearded Reedling or Bearded Tit perches on a dead branch covered in lichen in front of blurry trees and blue sky. She is looking sideways to us with pale eyes with a black eye stripe and a bright yellow bill. Her head and body are medium warm brown and she has a white throat. Her long legs are black and have long claws on her feet, and her long tail looks black in this photo. Her wings have some white and black stripes on them.
Kelsey J.R.P. Byers@plantpollinator.bsky.social · last mo.

Very odd - this Linaria purpurea when outdoors produces solid purple flower spikes, yet when cut & brought indoors the flowers display a lovely ombre shading with dark purple at the bottom and white towards the tip. UV required for anthocyanin biosynthesis, or roots? Hunh! (L: indoor; R: outdoor)

A set of cut flowers of Linaria purpurea inside a house. There are multiple floral spikes with only the foreground one in focus. At the bottom are dying purple flowers, then in the middle of the spike are medium purple flowers, and towards the tip are white to light purple flowers. The buds at the very tip are not yet open.A floral spike of Linaria purpurea outdoors. The flowers are solid dark purple throughout the spike, including the as-yet-to-open buds at the tip of the spike.
Kelsey J.R.P. Byers@plantpollinator.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I've been learning to hand spin yarn the last few months! These are dyed and undyed fibres from various breeds of sheep (Shetland, Bluefaced Leicster, Leicster Longwool, and Corriedale top->bottom), with time moving bottom->top. Bottom-most is a sample I then knitted from the first yarn I ever made.

A sampler of handspun wool yarn from various projects, arranged vertically to the viewer on a wood veneer floor. At the bottom is a rectangular knitted pad in light purple and dark red, then a small skein of light pink and hot pink, then a small skein of red and white, then a top whorl drop spindle and cardboard tube with thin white single ply wool on, then a larger skein of white yarn tied with blue yarn, then a larger skein of brown yarn tied with red yarn.
Kelsey J.R.P. Byers@plantpollinator.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Went to RSPB Strumpshaw Fen yesterday very very early in the morning (I caught the 5:08am train) and it was lovely! 55 species of birds and lots of lovely bugs & flowers, though things are settling down as summer is coming into force. Birds first: Cormorant, Grey Heron, Mallards, Bearded Reedling!

A Cormorant swims in open water with a blurry reed between it and the camera. This large water bird is solid black with a long neck poking out of the water which ends in a black head with a white and orange cheek patch. Its long hooked bill is upright, holding water weeds.A Grey Heron flies against blue sky. This large bird has its wings cupped in an M shape. The large body is held in a compact bullet shape with legs outstretched behind it and its neck tucked against its chest.A group of five Mallard ducks swims in open water. These ducks - a mixture of adults and new immatures from this breeding year - are mostly brown at this point.A blurry photo of a Bearded Reedling perching bird which is perching on dried reeds in front of green reeds and other green plants. This small bird is brown overall with stripes on the wings and a very long tail.
Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)@jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 2mo ago

13. The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper- AJ Fitzwater If you need just some pure cozy escapism, may I suggest this compilation of the adventures of a dapper lesbian capybara pirate?

The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper

Check out The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper - <p>Cinrak the Dapper is a keeper of secrets, a righter of wrongs, the saltiest capybara on the sea and a rider of both falling stars and a great glass whal...

bookshop.org

Moths in a human suit (they/them)@lycomorpha.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Historically? In Europe at least, fascism came for us 1st last time round. We were quite literally its test subjects. But we were far from its last targets. The taking of rights & support from disabled people, trans people, refugees, whoever they think u don't care about. It's only ever the start…

Moths in a human suit (they/them)@lycomorpha.bsky.social · 2mo ago

In all the countries where I can read the news, disabled & chronically ill people are being talked about & treated like easy targets/acceptable losses/just garbage rn. I need non-disabled/chronically healthy people to understand: Historically, we're the canaries in the coal mine. You'll be next…

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · 2mo ago

When I meet people in the real world, they have 0% - and I mean zero - knowledge of the disaster unfolding in British HE. Even if their kids are actually at uni. They look at me as if I've gone mad. This is why. 👇

George Eaton@georgeeaton.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Why is the universities crisis being ignored? Essential piece by @gsoh31.bsky.social for Arguably on the “grim dribbling away of one of Britain's great triumphs and economic advantages” – and why so few politicians seem to care. www.arguably.uk/p/the-quiet-...

Ash, apparently@arreffbee.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Good morning! Today I'm thinking about fact that those little link citations that come with Google's AI "search" aren't actually references to the information it gave you They're links it predicts might have the information it gave you That's why you can't ever find the source THERE IS NO SOURCE

Adil Ray@adilray.bsky.social · 2mo ago

If Muslims or members of the Asian and Black community had set fire to white people’s homes with children running for their lives, do you think we would be discussing legitimate concerns or focussing on who radicalised them and ideological and contributing cultural factors?