The bramble patches in our garden are replete with berries and bush-crickets at the moment. As the light fades, this female Dark Bush-cricket will be serenaded by the striking match like calls of her male counterparts.

Like most birders, I met #BillOddie several times, even appearing on an early series of Birding with Bill Oddie, in a one-hour birdrace around Rutland Water during the original @globalbirdfair.bsky.social. My first contact was age 16 when I asked some celebs to write some encouraging... (1/3)

Welcome news about a #seabird whose Welsh population has probably never been higher. This week's @northwaleslive.bsky.social BirdNotes, with some recent sightings on land too. #BirdingWales @rspbcymru.bsky.social @btocymru.bsky.social @smp-seabirds.bsky.social www.birdnotes.wales/blog/black-g...

Black Guillemot: a seabird on the up

At a time when many of Wales’ breeding seabirds are in trouble, meriting the launch of a conservation strategy to which the new Plaid Cymru government committed in its election manifesto, some good...

birdnotes.wales

If you went down to the woods in May... A short 🧵about how @birdsandbikes.bsky.social and I spent our spare time this spring in Coed Gwydyr and adjacent woodlands in the Afon Conwy catchment, #NorthWales. #BirdingWales

Few species have given me as much anxiety this year as the Cinnabar Moth. Last year was terrible for ragwort in the garden. There were few caterpillars. This year there is lots of ragwort but adults have been infrequent at best. I've feared the worst. But we are almost at 100 caterpillars already!

Urban ponds may be small, but they’re biodiversity powerhouses 🐸💧 Yet many are in poor ecological condition. Join Dr Rachel Walker on 15 Sept for a webinar on creating, surveying & managing urban ponds for wildlife 🌎 🧪 Book here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1981358046... @barnescommon.bsky.social

This, from the UK Met Office, should be brought to the in-tray of the CEO of every fossil fuel company, with a request for them to explain what they are planning to do or say, to avoid prosecution for all the damage that they have caused, and are causing.

Met Office - weather and climate@metoffice.gov.uk · 3w ago

Its not just the UK that has seen extreme heat the last few days From heat domes over the United States, to prolonged heatwaves across Europe Places in the Middle East are even forecasting temperatures into the 50s this week 🌡️

Our bathroom has proved to be a good place to find inverts over the last few nights. Mainly moths but last night it hosted an Eared Leafhopper (Ledra aurita).

BREAKING: The Church of England makes landmark commitment to... business as usual? 🤔 This comes at the same time that the Church announces new teachings for the "mass extinction crisis". The Church of England can talk the talk, but clearly they can't walk the (nature) walk. #SynodVoteForNature

Appalling: Church of England votes against plan to rewild 30% of its land by 2030 @wildcard.land have run a noble campaign trying to get the CofE to see sense But this demonstrates exactly why Ministers can't rely on landowners to voluntarily support 30by30: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Church of England votes against plan to rewild 30% of its land by 2030

Campaigners criticise C of E for failing to show moral leadership as one of country’s biggest landowners

theguardian.com

1/🛰️🧠 New open-access paper! We built a deep-learning (U-Net) model to automatically map surfaced vehicle "hill tracks" across the UK uplands from 25 cm aerial imagery — the first spatially comprehensive assessment of their extent. 🔓 doi.org/10.1002/2688...

Vehicle tracks in the <fc>UK</fc> uplands vary in occurrence with land use and overlap with peatlands and protected areas

Surfaced vehicle tracks are widespread across GB uplands, yet their extent and environmental footprint have until now been poorly quantified. Using remote sensing and a semi-automated detection model...

doi.org

Well worth a read. Some of the highest track densities are in Southeast Wales, and the highest level of nature designation makes no difference to whether tracks have been created through semi-natural habitats. Cumulative impact could be large. @natreswales.bsky.social will be interested, I'm sure.

Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 3w ago

5/ Take-home: UK surfaced hill tracks are widespread & overlap carbon-rich, protected & montane habitats. We call for stronger planning controls & evidence-based track-removal frameworks. Funded by @rspb.bsky.social, @rspbscience.bsky.social .

‘…we need to achieve a minimum of 40% street tree canopy cover, and preferably more, before we start to really feel the benefits of nature’s most advanced air-conditioning technology.’ Me, for Big Issue, on tackling urban #heatwaves…👇 www.bigissue.com/opinion/heat...

Quick lunchtime tidy up of our mini greenhouse resulted in Knot Grass #moth caterpillar lurking amongst the bunching onions.

A chance encounter with a new species for the garden- a Large Skipper resting on an Oxeye Daisy in our mini meadow! @sewbrec.org.uk #bufferfly

Excellent review of the birds of Pumlumon, most likely reflecting the whole of the Cambrian Mountains, by ecologists with decades of experience of the region's birds. If you're #BirdingWales and not subscribing to @britishbirds.bsky.social, please consider fixing that.

British Birds@britishbirds.bsky.social · last mo.

What can 40 years tell us about the health of our uplands? This paper explores four decades of breeding bird change from the Pumlumon uplands in Wales, a nationally important landscape recognised for its birdlife. Read more: britishbirds.co.uk/journal/arti... 📸David Tipling 🖋 Mick Green

New #OpenAccess in #BirdStudy Artificial nests differ from natural nests in predation rates and predator identity: important to study natural nests if possible. Are artificial nests suitable to study wader nest predation? A case study on wet grasslands: doi.org/10.1080/0006... #ornithology #waders

and a wee bit of video of the Woodcock with chicks in tow! #highlandbirds 🪶

It's Insect Week! Though we might normally think of seabirds feeding on fish and crustaceans, many species, like these gulls, feed on insects too. How many times have you seen gulls following a tractor, or terns hawking insects? #Seabirds @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social

This year, my laid back approach towards thistles growing in the garden has been rewarded with a Painted Lady caterpillar! Cue obsessive checking of every thistle plant in the garden! Adults have been a near daily sighting since late May. #butterflies #butterfly #caterpillars

Over the weekend the moth trap caught 40 individuals across 20 species. My favourite by far were two Buff Arches (pictured). Large Yellow Underwing and Garden Grass-Veneer were the most numerous species but neither species reached double figures. #TeamMoth #Moths

On this day in 2017, I asked what would happen to head-started Black-tailed Godwit numbers: wadertales.wordpress.com/2017/06/13/s... 🎂9️⃣ Here's an assessment from 2024: wadertales.wordpress.com/2024/09/26/h... And some 2025 stuff about inbreeding: wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/04/29/i... #ornithology

Last night's catch comprised 30 moths across 17 species. Heart & Club and Buff Ermine were the most numerous. A tatty looking Buff Tip was the first of the year, as well as Barred Yellow which is new for the garden (I think...). #TeamMoth #Moths

Good news! Ministers have finally given green light to new #NaturalHistory GCSE. We’ve campaigned so long for this! Big hats off to tireless advocate Mary Colwell 🙌 Now our young people will have a chance to get to know & love the natural world, to feel awe & wonder, & gain skills to protect it 🌷🌳🦡

Natural history GCSE to teach teenagers to plant wildflower-friendly gardens

Long-awaited course to examine human effects on natural world and explore everyday ways to aid biodiversity

theguardian.com

Brown Mottlegill, or "Mower's mushroom" are springing up all over a patch of regularly mown lawn - although this year it's been mainly grazed by guinea pigs! #mushrooms #fungi

No prizes for guessing what would headline this week's @northwaleslive.bsky.social BirdNotes... It's set to be just the seventh first-for-Britain found in #NorthWales, a list that dates back to 1753. A few non-heron sightings too. 📷John Riley #BirdingWales www.birdnotes.wales/blog/first-f...

First for Britain draws the crowds

Caernarfon residents woke on Sunday to an array of expensive optical equipment lined along the harbour wall. Britain’s first Western Reef Heron has attracted birders from across the country since...

birdnotes.wales

A surprise find in the garden this weekend was in the form of a solitary Pyramidal Orchid. We've lived here almost 5 years and while Common Spotted Orchids have flowred every year, this is the first time Pryamidal Orchid has.

Always nice to see late nests successful. 8 Willow Tit nestlings now fledged from this protected cavity. They’re being fed by both parents, moving through a beautiful valley that’s in the process of rewilding. Soon they’ll disperse, search for a mate and home range and they’re only a few weeks old!

💥 In Donetsk region, birds are building nests from drone fiber optics.

Read our latest blog by Mary Colwell: Curlews & Rewilding www.curlewaction.org/curlews-rewi... 📷 Peadar Morgan