Barry 🏳️‍🌈 🇵🇸 🌿🌿

I could try and say something relevant, topical, profound even on the general state of everything. However what I feel I need is a small, purple, Sea Lavender Weevil. So here it is. #Nature

I can only imagine if Björk Guðmundsdóttir herself sat in the middle of a grassland wearing a bespoke designer dress and headgear that you would have anything as good as that performance

ROSALÍA - Berghain (Live at The BRIT Awards 2026) ft. Björk YouTube video by RosaliaVEVO

Can anyone think of a native grassland creation project that really surprised and impressed you when you saw it?

Asking because the ROSALÍA performance at the Brits last week was both & so I wondered if we could point to something that good but in grassland creation.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fyu...

Hey, I was three that month*

*My school friend was obsessed with GE.

@thenewgalaxy.bsky.social

Also 10/10 for the weed killed circle of death around that tree 💅

I do wonder, for sites like this with no obvious nearby population and zero flowering, how so many seeds get to that spot and germinate.

I mean, are we forever walking around in a dust storm of orchid seed just waiting for a mossy verge?!

Very chonky Bee Orchid rosettes in the sun on a traffic island in central Middlesbrough yesterday

The Most Chilling Detail in the U.S. Attack on an Iranian Naval Ship The Iranian warship was taking part in an international exercise with many other countries—including the United States.

This is a chilling crime. A shame on our country. The Iranian ship was unarmed. The US knew this. The sailors were murdered by our navy, and the survivors were left to die at sea.
newrepublic.com/post/207429/...

How better* to celebrate #WorldBookDay than an early emergence of one of the very first copies of Mariposa co-founder and tour leader Jon's new book at his local library? We hope it sparks an interest in butterflies for kids all over the world.

*apparently Jon should have dressed as a butterfly...

A hand touching a large bracket fungus

Spotted this fallen cherry tree with several impressive Ganoderma brackets at the base #FungiFriends #FungiFriday

The Black Death’s counterintuitive effect: as human numbers fell, so did plant diversity New study finds that plant biodiversity collapsed in landscapes where arable production was abandoned during and after the Black Death era.

Very interesting! Thank you @beccyscottuk.bsky.social

theconversation.com/the-black-de...

Dear Shabana, I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank. You said: “A party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to make a perilous crossing on small boats.” I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division. When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney. As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I filled water tanks and picked up litter. What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country. Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it. It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and croissants to refugees and food parcels. When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She said “we have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers whilst risking death on the seas.” She said “maybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …

Dear Shabana,

Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.

Rustyback, Asplenium ceterach, a rare plant in #Suffolk. 10 year old record in @bsbibotany.bsky.social database, with OS grid ref as though it was on #BuryStEdmunds Cathedral wall but a case of 'it's behind you' in sunken area round Norman Belltower, plus Heart's-tongue. #FernFriday

A few days ago we announced 200,000 members.

The Green Party has 215,000! 🚀

Join us making hope normal again:

Join.greenparty.org.uk

Two headlines. When Iranian government reports casualties, it is a claim but, when Israel does the same, it is a fact.

Manufacturing legitimacy. #NYTimes #Iran

Before we started!

During

After

Primrose showing feeding damage from Duke of Burgundy caterpillars

Had a great day out with @bcyorkshire.bsky.social
coppicing Hazel at a Duke of Burgundy site nr Hawnby. There was lots of Primrose coming through underneath, and lots of it with feeding damage from Duke larvae.
@savebutterflies.bsky.social @northyorkmoors.org.uk

John Healey: Iran must return to the route of diplomacy as thats the way to secure peace.

Oman, which was mediating talks between the US & Iran, said on Friday that a peace deal was within reach. The next day the US & Israel attacked.

Healey is treating us all like idiots.

An independent investigation is needed for the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school massacre in Minab. The culprits, whether it's the US, Israel, or Iran, need to be brought to justice in an independent international court, and the truth must be protected.

A Juniper Shieldbug, having a rest on my wheelie bin the other day.

"When you get a regime like this [Iran], lashing out in the Middle East, indiscriminately and widely, hitting civilian as well as military targets"

This is the UK defence minister talking about an illegal and unprovoked attack *on Iran*

So the US & Israel attack Iran & the RAF then defends the bases & countries from where those attacks were made so the US & Israel don't suffer any consequences and can launch further attacks.

This makes the UK complicit.

THIS.

I don’t know enough about UK politics but the result from Gorton and Denton suggests that Reform’s policy of being horrible people may have backfired.

Turns out actively supporting a genocide loses Labour seats just like it lost Kamala Harris the presidency.

Turns out genocide isn’t a vote winner among the left.

Starmer and Harris response:
“it’s because we didn’t genocide enough”

The first film adaptation of Wuthering Heights was released in 1920. Today it is believed to be a lost film

The UK Labour govt pushed out this false propaganda today as they are in a bye-election & struggling.

It’s a sign of how Trumpian/authoritarian the govt has become that it’s making stuff up about a very serious crime, date rape. The dogwhistle ‘protect women & girls’ is to appeal to the far right*

Dear Lucy On the eve of the by-election, your Labour party spokesperson has admitted to the Huffington Post that a Labour party leaflet has been delivered through doors with your imprint recommending a vote for Labour by a tactical voting organisation which does not exist. This is deeply troubling, it is actually lying to voters. Did you approve this? Do you feel the Labour Party in government should be held to different standards in terms of honesty to the British public? In your last letter to me you mentioned your ‘very extensive data’ and ‘having spoken to over a third of eligible voters’ which led you to an understanding that the by election ‘was a contest between labour and Reform’. Clearly this latest development only tells voters one thing - you will employ any type of political deception (or in Urdu “Dhoka” ) to win. You will be very aware that all three real tactical voting organisations are recommending a vote for the Greens as the best way to stop Reform. Lying to the voters, as you have been caught doing, raises the real prospect that Reform will be the beneficiaries, something you have said that you don’t want. As this is such an important issue, for the sake of your own reputation, I would strongly urge you to apologise to the voters of Denton and Gorton before the polls open in the morning.” Kind regards, Zack Polanski Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales

Dear @lucympowell.bsky.social,

Why did you invent a fake tactical voting company to stop the Green Party beating Reform?

I'm starting to think your letters haven't always been in good faith...

Orchis provincialis, Orchids of Rhodes © Jon Dunn

Ophrys reinholdii, Orchids of Rhodes © Jon Dunn

Ophrys korae, Orchids of Rhodes © Jon Dunn

Neotinea maculata, Orchids of Rhodes © Jon Dunn

There's good reason our orchid tours are over-subscribed and fill years in advance. Our guests value their authenticity, our leaders' knowledge & convivial company, and our commitment to donate promptly to support @bsbibotany.bsky.social. We don't settle for second-best, and nor should you.

Just 3 places remain available to join my good pal @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social and I for the Mariposa Nature Tours flagship orchid tour, #OrchidsOfRhodes in 2028.

Is it worth the wait? Just take a look at what our recent guests have to say!

www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...