Big Garden Birdwatch 2026 done - nice that lots of our regulars chose exactly the right time to visit, but lower numbers than usual, and no surprises. 10 species, and 2 non-birds in the gallery #BigGardenBirdwatch
Burgundydrop bonnet
Fairy inkcaps
Purple something
Purple too, and countless tiny ones..... #fungi #fungifriends
Magpie inkcap
Green elfcups
Russula
Hare's foot inkcap
Love this time of year - another weekend exploring our wood. Masses of fungi, most of which I've no idea exactly what they are, but many colours, and many different shapes and sizes.
Love open house heritage weekend - finally got to see inside one of our local places I've only ever seen from the road. Total surprise and some beautiful details - love their stained glass and murals
Chalk hill blue - auditioning to feature as the BlueSky logo.... #UKButterflies
Also, I bet everyone says this, but can't beliwed bird's nest fungi are SO TINY #fungifriends
Natalie Haynes on the Great Library at Alexandria was brilliant - love that last quote! "Cherish libraries, they scare people who dont want us to think for ourselves" www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Thankyou for replying! I do record all sightings (all wildlife, not just butterflies!) in our greenspace on iNaturalist - so I hope those filter through to your schemes somehow
@savebutterflies.bsky.social just submitted todays count - and the star of the show was a hummingbird hawk moth on buddleia.... but no way to record that. Have you ever considered having an "other" box, for those unusual visitors? We also get skippers in our greenspace.
Flowers for Valentines day (seen on my lunchtime fresh air break)
Spectacled bear hiding in the Kew jungle
Orchids
Pink orchid
Purple and green orchid
10/10 Kew orchid festival - lots of types I'd never seen before, and some gorgeous displays
Visited the Exchange in Erith - restoration of a former Carnegie library and it is beautiful (and now a home for artists and creativity - love the textile room, pottery and wood workshop) Lots of new photos for my webpage: carnegielegacyinengland.wordpress.com/2016/09/22/e...
Well well! You certainly started something
Indeed! And I think I've still got that fleece (and the same hairstyle!)
If you see this post, repost with a bridge from your gallery. (this feels like old time tweeting)
Weather probably influenced this years #BigGardenBirdwatch to be the lowest numbers ever. But I guess should be pleased I at least saw something (6 species, 8 birds in total). Spot the interloper!
Maybe an orchid one day? - rosette of green leaves
Cluster of bluebell leaves among the fallen autumn leaves
Walked in our woods today. Pretty sure the clump of pointed leaves will be bluebells (we saw lots of those), and have finders crossed the more rounded ones might grow up to be an orchid! We'll be keeping watch
Goldcrest - a bird on a twig
After about a dozen pictures of empty branches, or just a hint of a tail, I finally managed to get a clear photo of a goldcrest - what a hyperactive tiny bird they are!
Even after frost and snow, can still find some of my favourite fungi in the woods - love oysterlings when you just see that hint of white on a twig, then turn it over 🍄
Lovely to see the festive lights on Rochester Bridge @rochesterbridge.bsky.social - especially ending with the rainbow this evening www.flickr.com/photos/julia...
Very curious..... would never have thought of trying that..... Am drinking masala chai at the moment and warming to it. "Plain" english-style tea is going to be a shock!
Well ... so many "out of context" things I could reply to that!!!! For a bit of lovely reading, my sis loaned me a new book by her friend Chloe Turner: Blue Hawk. Beautifully written, life in 17th century Glos. Lots of local refs, a (so far) gentle story about tough lives in the cloth industry
Bright yellow butterfly on a flower - a common grass yellow
Lemon pansy - a brown butterfly with orange circles on its wings
Bright yellow damselfly on lotus leaf - a coromandel marsh dart
Seeing so many new butterflies, insects and birds on this trip (even more amazing as most of it spent in conference rooms and hotels - but I hadn't realised Delhi was so green!)
perfect autumn day for a walk in some different woods - Gloucestershire (as a change from Kent)
A damp walk in our wood - masses of fungi still to be found 🍄
Everything here is so colourful - fish, birds, butterflies - and today we spotted a well-named Mauritius ornate day gecko
We loved it too! So pleased you saw quetzal - if you just describe it, no one would believe you!
Glasgow's Mitchell library - loved both the busy main library and behind the scenes
