Keith Balmer

Reformed meat made from tory offal

The one you posted is real, but a bit out of date. It shows the town hall which was demolished in 2014. Both Google and Copilot said the fake was Bedford. I can't help worrying about the way the world is heading...

The windows on the white building are on the end and on the side simultaneously. The clock 'faces' are an AI joke/halucination I suspect!

A photo of a stone arched bridge over a river with buildings and a church spire in the background

Does anyone recognise where this is please? It isn't Bedford but it looks a bit like it. It is being erroneously used to illustrate Bedford though at www.journey-alerts.com/updates/bedf... . Google and Co-pilot don't seem to know where it is. AI generated perhaps?

Reformed meat is made from offal.

Puzzled, I then read aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/rs_solst... which said the opposite. When I challenged ChatGPT it said "Good catch — and yes, you’re right to question that.
My earlier sentence was backwards, and thank you for calling it out.!"
Yet another hallucination! 2/2

I asked ChatGPT to explain why the latest sunrise date varies with latitude. It said "
Moving north in the Northern Hemisphere:
Latest sunrise occurs later in January
Sunrise times change more slowly day to day
Near the Arctic Circle, the latest sunrise can be weeks later than at mid-latitudes" 1/2

Contact us - National Biodiversity Network All of the NBN Trust team members work remotely, but there are a number of ways you can get in … Continued

@nbntrust.bsky.social your contact page at nbn.org.uk/about-us/who... doesn't include BlueSky...

For Bedfordshire's butterfly records in 2025 (as they currently stand - I'm still acquiring them) only 1.85% were entered into iNaturalist and only 0.33% have a CC0 or CC-BY licence.

How many UK records does iNaturalist gather compared with all of the UK's other record-gathering methods/schemes? And what proportion have a CC0 or CC-BY licence? @nbntrust.bsky.social

Formerly formally?

2026's may be even more exciting

A set of cryptic clues to Bedfordshire Wildlife Trust reserves. 1. A dyslexic inhabitant from The Shire? 2. A Rosaceaen uprising 3. Arthur's knight is missing the Spanish grassland 4. Brief decline by a tit 5. Cautiously plead with black bird 6. Complexion issues? 7. Confused imp shaves one beard 8. Damon cooperates without having eaten first 9. Deranged Andrew hides in ancient burrow 10. Dibbler would include "me-own" in this reserve's name 11. Enthusiast has company at the race 12. Fly in, then leave vehicle at a club 13. Fly to soak up the extra? It sounds like it. 14. Hangs teacher on high ground 15. Look at superb art on gravel pitch 16. Lutra and Sterna are present in name only? 17. Pipes clot somehow 18. Priest's allotment run wild? 19. Punching below the belt(s) 20. Rockets procured covers 21. Turning off water supply from the south-east 22. Use XL foot to reach the top

Would you like to start the New Year with a quiz? Those familiar with Bedfordshire Wildlife Trust BCN nature reserves (@wildlifebcn.org) may like to have a go at solving these cryptic clues to their identities. @brianecambs.bsky.social

A small insect with black and white markings, long legs and piercing mouthparts feeding on Antirrhinum leaves. The abdomen is swollen suggesting a gravid female.

A small insect with black and white markings, long legs and piercing mouthparts feeding on Antirrhinum leaves. The abdomen is swollen suggesting a gravid female.

𝘋𝘪𝘤𝘺𝘱𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘦 are still readily found on my end-of-season 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘮 on Dec 9th. Despite being only 10 Celsius they are very alert and thus difficult to photograph. (The wind isn't helping either!) Many seem to have swollen abdomens suggesting gravid females?

A Tesco carrier bag folded so that its slogan Reuse Repeat reads as use peat, which we shouldn't.

No, don't!

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

Looking for a new challenge working on one of the UK's most ambitious conservation projects?
We are at an exciting phase of our Great Fen vision with habitat creation and peatland rewetting funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Find out more and apply www.wildlifebcn.org/jobs/great-f...

Grid of data of weekly butterfly counts

Did my 24th, and final, walk of the year today. Missed one July walk due to eye surgery. Here's my summary for the Old Warden Tunnel transect.

I've been checking every Green Shieldbug, hoping...

Well done Stephen!

It's just one of many photos taken - you don't get to see the bad ones! And cropped.

The first butterfly identified in the Alt text as a Ringlet is a Speckled Wood.

A slender bug with black and white markings standing on an Antirrhinum.

In the winter I sowed 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘮 (Snapdragons) specifically to try to attract 𝘋𝘪𝘤𝘺𝘱𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘦. On 30th June I beat one, and today found two by direct inspection. @willgeorge.bsky.social‬ has confirmed as a new species for Bedfordshire.

I've started calling them "Salty Sids" because they are in the Salticidae. Shame they have no particular connection with the sea.

Close-up of the head and mouthparts of a fly biting into skin. The eyes carry a beautiful sequence zig-zag bands of several colours.

A large fly kneeling to bite into human skin. The eyes carry a beautiful sequence zig-zag bands of several colours. The bites feels like pin pricks.

One of the female 𝘏𝘢𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘢 𝘴𝘱. (Clegs) chewing into the back of my left hand. Chose photography over pain relief - I hope you appreciate that!

A round hole in sand with the flat head of a Green Tiger Beetle larva visible inside.

A round hole in sand with a jaw of a Green Tiger Beetle larva just visible inside.

A round hole in sand filled with the flat head of a Green Tiger Beetle larva visible inside. There is a jaw visible, ready to catch passing prey.

They look like round holes about 5mm diameter. If the larva sees you coming they drop down inside, but will creep back up if you wait patiently. I find them on footpaths where the sand is compacted.

A shiny green weevil (a beetle with a long snout), feeding on a developing flower bud of Wild Liquorice.

Yesterday I heard of the existence of the rare weevil 𝘗𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘪 so went looking for it this afternoon. May have found it after 20 minutes, unless I have the wrong ID of course! Can anyone confirm please?

A male mayfly with large red bucket-shaped eyes, and a clear body with a dark tip.

A close-up of the hindwing appears to have a small spine and a pointed tip, hopefully confirming the ID.

Is there on online set of reference photos for Ephemeroptera imagos and sub-imagos? I'd like to check my tentative IDs. (e.g. is this a male Centroptilum luteolum?). iRecord seems the best I've found so far, but wondered if someone had a gallery somewhere...?

A large green beetle with long, spine-covered, legs, and a ferocious pair of sharp jaws that can puncture human skin if handled. It is clambering through leaf litter.

A large green beetle with long, spine-covered, legs, and a ferocious pair of sharp jaws that can puncture human skin if handled. It is standing on a dead leaf, with heather in the background.

I always enjoy the challenge of trying to photograph Green Tiger Beetles, 𝘊𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘴. Here's my first attempt of the year, on Bedfordshire heathland.

We are have updated our research into which garden plants attract the most pollinators. Our original research included 5 years of data. We then moved house so this is now 9 years of data over 2 different locations.
www.rosybee.com/research-study

A mass of green leaves with a Brimstone butterfly hanging from beneath one. The corners on the butterfly's wings mimic the drip tips on the leaves, and the colours are quite a good match too. There is a dark spot in the centre of the hindwing though that detracts from the camouflage.

Here's an example of the camouflage in action. Its spot detracts from the disguise on this occasion.