My final @pomscheme.bsky.social survey for the year completed today. Unfortunately breezy conditions meant not much activity recorded during the FIT counts but harvested crops makes placing and finding traps easier! #citizenscience #POMScheme
No more Beewashing please! Why beekeeping doesn't help conserve bees. Pls RT if you agree.
youtu.be/fiBYBmlKSYU
A beautiful Dark Green Fritillary today (actually the first time I've managed to photograph one!) and my first Gatekeeper of the year in Purbeck today #dorsetbutterflies @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social
Always a stunner - Volucella zonaria - the Hornet Hoverfly
IMPORTANT. Please sign and repost. This petition is based on our recent research which found that English rivers are universally contaminated with these potent neurotoxic insecticides, the source being treated dogs and cats. Link in comment below.
Think this could be Villa cingulata seen on Upton Heath today - understand it is seen on acid sites in some places and daren't hope it might be V. venusta (don't think darkened zone on foremargin of wing is wide enough and a bit early maybe) @kitenet.bsky.social possible to confirm? #insectweek
That should of course be hind tibia, not thorax!
That's Andrena thoracica Martin - hairless shiny abdomen compared with A. clarkella and with a summer generation flying now. Scopa also black haired on the hind thorax rather than reddish in A. clarkella
Creeping Thistle a great nectar source for insects right now #pollinators #dorsetwildlife
A yellow butterfly with a orangey eye spot on it's closed wings is leaning forward into the pale pink flower of Field Bindweed in a grassy field. A blade of grass crosses near the tip of the butterfly's wing
Nice to see my first Clouded Yellow of the year this afternoon in Purbeck #dorsetbutterflies @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social
Oh wow! Looks fab, only met Bob a few times but listening to him talk about Alpine flora was inspiring!
We've had a wonderful few days camping at Knepp. A highlight was this magical moment with a purple emperor (uncropped phone pic!), at the edge of a muddy pond!
A muddy background with a Purple Emperor butterfly it's bright yellow proboscis probing the mud
A rush with tuft of flowers horizontally with a White Admiral butterfly with its wings closed perched on top
A Purple Hairstreak butterfly with its wings closed perched upside down on the back of a white Oxeye Daisy flower
A Comma butterfly perched on the tip of a Blackthorn shoot with its wings closed showing the white "C"
@kneppwilding.bsky.social highlights - definitely the butterflies @ukbutterflies.bsky.social #ukbutterflies #kneppestate #kneppholiday
New plants to me at Knepp this week - Water Violet and Water Chickweed were nice to see alongside all sorts of other fantastic wildlife @bsbibotany.bsky.social
And three pairs of Glow Worms last night
Also my first Bryony Bees on White Bryony near the farm
Some great Knepp moments so far but highlights include the closest Purple Hairstreak I've seen, resting on an Oxeye Daisy in the meadow at the Wilding Kitchen and Shop #kneppholiday @kneppwilding.bsky.social @ukbutterflies.bsky.social
Proper tick season now! 😱
#dorsetwildlife #surveyseason #botanicalsurvey
Pyramidal Orchids on Holes Bay just starting to flower #holesbaynature #dorsetbotany #30dayswild #ukorchids
Published in 1960 (Ladybird book). Streams thick with eels. Now they're criticaally endangered. Shifting baseline.
Interesting reading: Fluralaner, the potent insecticide in Bravecto flea treatments for dogs/cats, has a half-life in sandy loam soil of 989 days -so highly persistent & likely to accumulate. V. likely excreted in poo, hence into soil. 1/2
Busy and snowy morning for the office feeders #winter #birdfeeders
