Very sad news. Dr M was such a key part of my uni experience. His infectious enthusiasm for plants and biodiversity was unparalleled.

Botanical University Challenge@bucbotany.bsky.social · 4w ago

🌿🌾🌳🌍🍞🎼We are sad that Jonathan Mitchley ('DrM') passed away this week. BUC and especially the Student Botany Festival, would not exist without him. He made a big impact on the UK & Irish student botany community. Competition & festival will continue in 2027. www.reading.ac.uk/news/2026/Un...

My annual reminder of how adorable female Belted Beauty moths are. At their only remaining English site today. #TeamMoth

Do you know someone who records terrestrial or freshwater wildlife and is increasing our understanding of nature in the UK? If so, why not nominate them for the NBN Award for Terrestrial Wildlife Recording? bit.ly/NBNawards26n... Deadline - 18 May #NBNawards26

Nominations for the NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording 2026 - National Biodiversity Network

Nominations for the NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording 2026 Through these Awards, the NBN Trust: National Biodiversity Network Trust, recognises … Continued

bit.ly

Northern Mining Bee, Andrena ruficrus at one its two known Cumbrian sites today. A lovely little bee which collects pollen exclusively from willows, like several more widespread species.

Woo a plant round on University Challenge! This isn't Sphagnum though, University Challenge! @bbsbryology.bsky.social

I'm finally more or less up to date with entering my records for 2025. Lots of nice places visited this year (blue squares), and lots more places to explore in 2026! #BiologicalRecording

Not sure where January went! Alongside recharging/hibernation, January was spent recording bryophyes, catching up on identification/ recording (including my 5000th species in Britain) and amazing music 😊

Interested in getting started with identifying mosses? I'm running an online talk tomorrow evening. If you can't make it live, then purchasing a ticket allows you to get access to the recording 😀 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/identifyin...

Identifying Mosses

Join us for an introduction to moss morphology and identification with Ryan Clark.

eventbrite.co.uk

It's impossible not to love the Merveille du Jour. Just incredible moths! #MothsMatter @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Less than 2 weeks until I'll be running the Great North Run to raise money for the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity. If anyone would like to donate to this wonderful charity, then I'd be very grateful. www.justgiving.com/page/ryan-cl...

Ryan's fundraiser for Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity

Help Ryan Clark raise money to support Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity

justgiving.com

Drosera x obovata, the hybrid between Great Sundew and Round-leaved Sundew. On a beautiful bog in Wales today with Sphagnum austinii and Sphagnum beothuk nearby.

Our brand new traineeships are open for applications!! On this paid, 6-month programme, we are looking for two people, age 18-25, to join the Communities and Education Team at the Great Fen as part of our National Lottery-funded project, #PeatlandProgress. www.wildlifebcn.org/jobs/peatlan...

Last week I came across some Small Scabious Mining Bees (Andrena marginata) in County Durham. This lovely species is Nationally Scarce and, I believe, has only been recorded twice before in Northern England. I managed to find them in 3 1km squares in the end. #NorthEastBeeHunt @nenature.bsky.social

Some tiny plants from the dune slacks at Holy Island. Small Adder's Tongue, Small-fruited Yellow-sedge and Shoreweed #WildflowerHour

The Gold-tailed Melitta aka Bellflower Blunthorn Bee, Melitta haemorrhoidalis, is one of my favourite bees. The females (picture 1) collect pollen from Campanula species but also visit Geraniums for nectar. The males (picture 2) are super cute too and sleep in flowers, often in little groups.

Very pleased to find a Transparent Burnet today on Mull. Lovely little moths 😍

North-bumble-land Walk complete! 🐝 🐝 1,070 bumblebees counted 🔎 15 species recorded 🥾 84 miles walked A huge thank you for your support & donations for @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social! Notebook is full of sightings for @nenature.bsky.social's #NorthEastBeeHunt! www.justgiving.com/page/charlot...

@movingslowly.bsky.social was one of the first people I met when I moved to Cumbria. A lover of life, nature, people, and books, he always had a cheeky smile on his face and a Diet Coke to hand. He loved these verges near Orton, and it felt like a fitting place to sit and remember him today.

Just over three weeks to go! 🐝

Charlotte Rankin@bumble-being.bsky.social · last yr.

I'm bumbling along the Northumberland Coast Path for @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social! 🐝👣 & along the way, I’ll be sharing my bumblebee sightings with @nenature.bsky.social’s North East Bee Hunt 📝🔎 Please share, or donate if you can, to support my ‘North-bumble-land’ Walk this June! ⤵️

10 years ago, I started my first paid job in Ecology and have very much enjoyed my time working for various charities to understand and conserve our often overlooked invertebrates and plants. (1/3)

The females of the Belted Beauty moth are especially bizarre, like fluffy woodlice wearing stripey socks. Their wings are only 2mm or so long, so don't function, meaning that they have to use pheromones to draw the males to them!

A Gold-fringed Mason Bee (Osmia aurulenta) from Cumbria earlier this week. This species nests in empty snail shells, disguising the shell slightly with chewed up leaves.

Lovely to see some solitary bees out and about enjoying the sunshine recently. Including these two Tawny Mining Bees (Andrena fulva), male Hairy-footed Flower Bee (Anthophora plumipes) and a male Andrena of some kind.

The boys are back in town! Lovely to see some male Andrena mining bees enjoying the sunshine this afternoon.

Solorina saccata, the Chocolate Chip Lichen, is a species I've wanted to see for ages! It was great to stumble across some yesterday in Yorkshire. This species favours sheltered limestone rocks and is rather charismatic!

A great day out on the limestone around Buckden today. A wonderful way to end three fabulous days I've spent looking for bryophytes as part of the week long @bbsbryology.bsky.social Spring meeting.

Based in the North East and want to know more about mosses and liverworts? 🔎 Just a few places remaining on my 'Beginning With Bryophytes' course taking place this Saturday with @nenature.bsky.social! Book here ➡️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/beginning-...

Two Pammene giganteana (Early Oak Gall Moth) to FUN lure on the edge of Carlisle today. The larva of this species feeds on spongy galls on oak trees. This species was considered rare until it was realised that they come to lures intended for other species.

There was a nice range of acid bark lichens in the sunshine at Borrowdale yesterday. Including Bryoria fuscescens, Sphaerophorus globosus and Ochrolechia tartarea.

Our study on #lichen #symbiosis is out in @currentbiology.bsky.social! How can multiple microbes create a large, 3D, and structurally complex organism? To answer this question, we used #metagenomics, #metatranscriptomics, and a bit of protein structure modeling 🧵1/7 🧬 🖥️ 🧪 🦠 🧫 #SymbioSky